The Darkness that entwines the Truth
by tw-cat
Summary: Lass wants to know who's Rufus after seeing him at the Nightmare Circus and seeks him, but something else is rising up from the darkness. I follow NAGC so I don't call him Lupus. Only plot and Melt are mine in here.
1. Chapter 1

**EDIT [AROUND A YEAR AFTER I STARTED THIS FANFIC] : Hello** **people who bothered to open this old story. Honestly, it's been a year since I started this story and frankly, around 9 months(?) since I ended it. So before you read what I had noobishly wrote, please consider a couple of things since I'm too lazy to PM people about why I wrote some stuff in some ways and so on and so forth...**

**1- I started writing this right when the Nightmare Circus (an incomplete version) visited NAGC server. Apparently, NAGC was the only one which didn't get Rufus straight away so they trolled us by giving Rufus' jobs one at a time and then Nightmare Circus returned in it's completed version (they finally showed the extra scene at the end with Rufus blasting the Ringmaster).**

**2 - At that time, information about Rufus was very limited to none. Honestly, the only thing I knew was that Lass and Rufus were related, so I had assumed that one of them was a hybrid (and since we were all used to Lass being human, we didn't think he was the hybrid at all and made Rufus the hybrid).** **So I had kind of relied on rumors until a friend introduced me to what was called *holy chorus bg music*** **But by that time, there was no way I could change the script...** **So Rufus is a demon hybrid here...**

**So yeah... other than that, enjoy reading this or ignore it or I don't know...**

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><p>The whole trip back to Serdin castle was ghastly to everyone. Why?<p>

They had gone against the Ringmaster of the Nightmare Circus of which Lass used to preform in.

Though that wasn't the reason the air was heavy around the group.

It seemed that something had annoyed Lass, making him leak out his killing aura. And none of the members of the Grand Chase dared to ask him, in fear they might step on a land mine as it might concern of the boy's past. He was quite sensitive when it concerned his background. At a young age, he went through many ordeals and suffered quite enough. He did not want to open back those memories ever again.

"... Damn it..." Lass mumbled as he mercilessly shot down a sparrow flying over head with one of his ninja knives he hides in his garments. It was obvious to all that he was in no condition to talk to until he cooled down. Lass silently cursed again, remembering what had happened in the Nightmare Circus.

The blue flames engulfed the tent with no mercy. He was weak with no strength in him anymore after receiving a deathly fatal hit. He landed on the floor harshly as large clumps his skin was scraped off, but his spirit to fight still burned in him. Jin had already rallied the members out of the place. Arme was one of the last few who came out. She nudged the boy to wake up, calling out his name to keep him from falling unconscious. Ryan was there beside her, ordering her to get out whilst he carried Lass.

Jin escorted Arme out, Ryan heaved the young boy on to his shoulder. But without warning, Lass slid off him and with every ounce of his energy, dashed towards the Ringmaster. His vision was at disarray but his focus on the main target did not falter. Ryan's calls for him to withdraw from the battle did not reach to his ears at all. He heard the blurry, blasted cackles of the demon that he desired to silence so much. And now was the chance to finally grasped the revenge he lusted for all these years. But all that disappeared at the very last second, when a gunshot rattled the air.

The Ringmaster breathed no more afterward. The boy, outraged to find that he did not murder this vile creature himself, roared in anger as he pinpointed the origin of the bullet. And up at the center stage, he stood there, speechless.

There, stood the silhouette of man, having guns in his hands, one of which had smoke floating away from its barrel that aimed the Ringmaster and bloodshot vermilion eyes. Without a care of the situation around him, he slicked towards the corpse of the demon. The blue flames which still burned around the skull remained. Closer to the illuminating source, the shadows unveiled the being's true form. Brunette curly hair and unwavering crimson eyes. His skin was utterly pale and he held a sinful smug as he reached out the the blue flames of the deceased and grasped it in his hands. Though, Lass retained his stance, petrified. Not to the fact, this person had absorbed the Ringmaster's demonic powers. But..

'... Why... Why does he have the same face.. As me...'

Lass shot down yet another flying creature above him as he remembered that face. It pissed him off already that he didn't kill the Ringmaster, but to have a person who shared the same face as him did it instead had him feeling berserk already. Even worse, it was only him who saw that being. Ryan had chased him to forcefully drag him out of the place, but that man had already disappeared.

'Why the hell does he look like me? Why did he kill the Ringmaster when it's MY revenge? Why did he-'

"Lass!" The low voice of Seigheart rang in his ears, startling him. He felt pissed off as he was caught off guard but there was no chance for him to go try to kill of the immortal. Lass had realized he walked off a cliff of the Gorge of Oath.

Usually, he'd recoil back to the edge of the cliff and escaped the fate of falling down. But the situation was different this time. The fact he was completely worn out did not help him at all. Maybe this was retribution for everything that happened in his life. Being part of the band of demons they called the Nightmare Circus. Being the terror of the land they called Kaze'aze. He couldn't recall anymore as he succumbed to the darkness that called for him. The wind had rushed against him as he heard the faint calls of his friends. It was in the midst of the free fall did he finally drift into unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

The cold floor had stole away the warmth Lass retained in his body, but on his left side, was a radiating heat. Involuntarily, he rolled over to his side, curling around the heat and embracing it wholeheartedly. But he did not expect to bump his head into something so soft. Nevertheless, he stuffed himself to it, he wanted to feel something comfortable.

"So you enjoy having someone's ass up your face..."

The boy sat up after suddenly hearing a foreign voice. He scanned the area quickly. A small cave, a dying fire, and the last man he wanted to met.

"Y-You! You're tha- AArgh.." Lass pressed on his belly, holding back the throbbing pain in his body. The other just looked at him and let out a short breath. He shoved his hand on to Lass' forehead and forced him to lie down again. The never changing gaze he wore made Lass stay silent. There was a feel of death in those eyes that he had just encountered. The brunette dragged himself back to his original position and stared at the dancing flames of the fire.

"Sleep. Though even if you do sleep, you'll still be weaker than me..."

Obviously, Lass found that comment as an offense and rose up quickly to land a punch at his face. But the pain pierced his insides yet again, causing him to fall on his back. He breathed heavily and rapidly. Looking down at his own body, he could see why the man said such. It was completely wrapped up in bandages, there was no sight of any of his light skin. Though, he remembered that some of his skin did got cut off. If he slept, he'll only gain back his stamina. These wounds would heal in weeks. Thinking thoroughly, he let out a deep breath. He looked at the stranger. "Why do you look like-"

"Like you?" He cut off Lass' sentence as he made a quick move to lean over Lass. The boy was frozen in shock. He could feel the heat of his breath, brushing gently on his face. They're faces were at a lips' distance. He had already straddled himself over, taking off his jacket. With no options to protect himself against what was coming, Lass shut his eyes tightly, bracing himself from the worse that was coming. The low voice of his whispered to his ears. "Find the answer to that question yourself."

"Huh?" Lass found himself blinking emptily to that quote. But, before him, the man was no where to be seen. His presence was still too near to him yet- "!"

A spark ran across his whole body as he felt the same breath lofting around his nape. Without notice, the brunette had slipped under him, arms folded around him and grasping his hips. Though, Lass was embraced so tightly by someone he was never acquainted with, there was a lack of fear in his feelings towards the act. Just comfort. But being comforted by the embrace of another man did make him feeling irk. "What in Hell's name are you doing...?"

"... Didn't you rolled over to get some warmth from the fire? I'm helping you gaining it faster.." Lass can't help but ponder whether this stranger was a pervert or a gullible idiot. True, gaining warmth through skin-ship was the quickest route, but does this guy have no sense of logic? To just hug another man like that? Lass thought he might not even have the slightest idea whether he knew what personal space meant, especially when they were face to face with an inch gap just moments ago. But remembering his face so close to his own made him feel uneasy.

"Get off..." Agitated, he struggled free from the embrace. The brunette withdrew obediently, but continued to sit abreast of him. His sight now fixed to the outside of the cave. It was a still night, there were glimpse of stars shining. But the remaining sky was dead black. The mysterious aura floating around him aroused Lass' curiosity. He could tell this guy was a demon, bearing such crimson eyes and having pointed ears. Much like Dio and Ley of the members of Grand Chase. Yet he did not have any horns. And he had a human feel around him.

".. Do you enjoy staring at others as well?" Bluntly, the man spoke with out a tone nor signs of movement. Lass jolted and turned away quickly, hiding away his embarrassed face. It was the first, in a long time, since someone had noticed him observe another. But he blamed his own weak condition. The brunette smiled sinfully to Lass, as if to show dominance. "I can tell that I've aroused your curiosity."

A chill ran though down his spine. 'He's a sadist! A freaking sadistic perverted demon!' His inner voice screamed in his mind. 'There is no way I can cope with this shit! There is no way this guy is human at all!'

"Fu.." The brunette gave out a satisfied laugh, seeing the injured shiver to him, pissing him off. "Though, I myself, am interested in your existence. Especially in your current situation, where you're so weak and pathetic, shivering in the cold. Makes you quite cute."

Lass swore to him, putting all his anger to that one word. He was beginning to feel irksome. But immediately, it dispersed as a jacket flopped over him. Before Lass was to let out a single word, the brunette had already stood near the entrance of the cave, his guns in both hands. "I'm going to scout the area for a while. Stay put."

As he walked away, Lass began to stare at the fire. It was near to it's end as there was nothing more to feed it. He clutched on to the jacket tightly. The scent it carried had a nostalgic feeling. Very sentimental and calming. And before long, he had already drifted into sleep.

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><p>Edit : OMFG! O-o... I just reread it and I swear this did not turn out like this on purpose! TT-TT<p>

... But I don't feel bad about it one bit ^^


	3. Chapter 3

"... Lass..."

"..Ngghh..."

"... Lass..."

".. Aaahhnnnn..."

"LASS!"

"Wha-?"

The owner of the name woke up with no hesitation, unable to respond with anything coherent as the high pitch voice rang harshly in his ears. His eyes focused slowly to the surroundings, finding Arme beside him, gripping tightly to his arm. She was in her usual purple guise, purple from head to toe, but in her eyes were the crystal pearls of her tears.

"Oh Lass! I thought you'd never wake up!" With all her might, she embraced him so openly. The pain of being constricted by this girl was overwhelming, but something else distracted Lass. He himself was at shock, being in his first few stages of puberty, he felt a burning sensation all over his body, particularly at where Arme pressed her body against him. It was the first time a girl had been so close to him, and he was just dead embarrassed.

On the edge of his vision, the Prime Knight laughed heartily, enjoying the youthful romance. Realizing this, Arme hastily let him go, having a light streak of pink across her face. Looking around, Elesis was there as well, and Lire too. Both the girls were in each others' arms, teary eyed as they didn't want to see the lost of a loved companion. Jin was cross-legged at his other side, sighing heavily in relief. He had been acting as an older brother to the boy and refused to stop so suddenly. But there was something missing in the scene.

"We found the little tyke here! See how my guidance works so well on these kiddies!" Seighart, at the cave's mouth, called out in his usual arrogant tone of his, summoning the rest of the members of the Grand Chase. Elesis lightly punched his arm, for the sake of her pride. No sooner, the whole group was assembled, the air filled with joys of reunions and reliefs from the worse. Even Amy cried in happiness on Lass' lap, causing much envy to the other men. But the uneasy feeling lingered around Lass. Something was definitely gone, but he couldn't point out what it was.

"Lass, for a kid, you're stronger than you look!" Ryan nudged him as he broke into a chuckle. "We all thought you'd be dead! If the fall didn't kill you, then those Drillmons might have!"

This made him speechless, beyond all words. And he had all rights to. He was supposed to be dead by now. Everything came to him in that instant. The brunette who stole the life of the Ringmaster. The same one who saved him. That demon had disappeared just like that. Agitated, he stood and frantically searched the cave, ignoring his tremendous pain and much to everyone's surprise. The fireplace that he collected warmth from seemed to have never existed. There was not even a trace of black ashes anywhere. And the jacket.. The jacket with the nostalgic scent..

Jin finally calmed the panic strickened boy down, looking him in the eyes and forcing his commands to calm down in him. When he stopped hesitating, Jin, again sighing heavily, asked him, "Lass? Something wrong? You've been so.. weird since we left the Nightmare Circus. And you know as friends, we'd like to help you out, bro... Care to tell the story..?" Though they all expected the boy to frown and avoid the topic like he'd done several times before, but they felt he might actually share his experience this time.

After a long silence, he took in a deep inhale and explained what he had gone through. The feelings of despair after realizing he didn't fulfill his revenge against the one who put him through torture in his childhood. The unbearable rage that went berserk in him when he saw the murderer was someone who looked like him. Then the unbelievable sentimental feeling when they were just together (But for the sake of pride, he left out the part where the foreigner had shared his body warmth with him). It all made him terribly confused and utterly weak. And what's worse, he had figured out he craved that nostalgic scent that the demon carried.

To have spilled his heart out to them all made the group feeling different. When Lass had ended speaking, he left his head hanging down, only to see the floor and his own legs. He could feel the heavy air pressing down on his back. The ice was finally broken when Seighart ruffled his cream unkempt hair, remarking to his tale in a carefree tone, "Well, so long as you're alright." This released them all from the tension that they shared, and Lass, for the first time in his life, felt thankful that Seighart had messed up his hair.

"Though, that does mean that there's another demon that might become a hindrance to us. He may have done all that, but he shows no signs to ally with us." Dio was always the hardest to please. And he was also correct. That demon killed Ringmaster in his own accord. He might have save Lass in search for a source of entertainment. "Besides, he might have hidden motives, seeing you as his new interesting pet to play with." Ley had chuckled to the harsh words Dio had thrown, commenting that she'd love to have a little boy like Lass as her pet, in her own opinion. Lass shivered in fear as he heard such.

"Maybe it all happened in his head?" Arme asked. Elesis glared at her. "W-What? I'm just giving some possible suggestions!"

"Nay." Ryan took a deep inhale. "I could smell a foreign smell in the place. He wasn't imagining things." He continued to smell the air as Arme was being teased harshly by Elesis. "Smells funny... Kind of like you, Lass."

Lass was neither surprised or shocked. He had finally realized why he desired that scent the brunette carried. It had the scent of someone he held so dearly so long ago. "He.. had my mother's scent.."

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><p>Ba dum dummmmmm~!<br>I'm a retard for doing this... Sometimes I just want to skip the chapters to go to the point where ... Lalala~ XD

Aneways, Lass being connected to Rufus by their mother is something I made up. It's still unsaid to how they're related..


	4. Chapter 4

**HOLY -**  
><strong>-_-"<strong>  
><strong>I completely forgot to put this chapter up...<strong>  
><strong>No wonder it felt wierd...<strong>

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><p>He looked back at the path he once set his footsteps on. It was dusty and rugged, expected from the Gorge of Oath. Far beyond, there were the little silhouettes of people, crowding around the cave he was recently at. The sight of the movements made him grip his gun tighten, itching to just press the trigger. But even if he did shoot, it wouldn't excite him. No.. It had to be at the right moment. He had to chastise himself until..<p>

Until he's right at the front that little thief. Where he has the front seats to watch the misery and despair that would fill up the thief, as each of his friends left him, one by one. 'How enticing', he imagined, feeling so self satisfied. The chills of arousal made him shiver. A drip of his saliva had leaked out of his mouth. It had been so long since he found himself a new toy.

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><p>It had been a full month since the Nightmare Circus incident. Lass had returned to his usual state - The reserved, standoffish aura had returned in him. His strength returned, and he was confident that he grew much stronger from that ordeal. But the fact that he retained those memories was bluntly there. He would reminisce about them when he was on his own. He was usually so withdrawn from society, that it was toilsome for the troops of Grand Chase to find a change in him. But it was a known fact that Lass was deeply curious towards that demon. Heck, everyone he told was dead curious.<p>

Lass leaned on to the window pane, watching the drama on the castle grounds from his dormitory. The Knightmaster was walking around, giving commands at every directions, at everyone who passed her, whilst she watched over Jin and Elesis' training. She really knew how to put someone to work. Once they all collapsed at the castle gates exhausted, Elesis had to report everything to the Knightmaster, not leaving out information about the demon. Immediately, she sent out scouts everywhere, to learn more about this mysterious person. More likely to recruit him to the Grand Chase. So far, nothing.

He saw Master Seighart striding through, making unnecessary trouble for the Knightmaster. Lass seemed to have caught the Prime Knight's eye as he waved towards the thief's direction. He ignored that greeting. He remembered what that man had said to him days ago. 'At times like this, a woman is good for the soul~!' It made him hard to believe that that man is really the legendary hero.

The thief turned his head around to the door of his bedroom. The light clumsy footsteps became louder and louder, stopping only right in front of the door. A rhythmic beat was knocked and the recognizable childish voice sang to him, "Lass~! Can I come in?"

"Un..!" He grunted in reply, observing the knob to twist and the door to open, suspecting this was the fault of Master Seighart. He just had to play along then. The magician girl popped in her head, giving a lively smile to him before she jumped into the near to empty room. It wasn't the first Arme set her foot in to this small room. The last time she was here was when Lass had became part of the Grand Chase. He had locked himself in this room, feeling miserably regretful when he had Kaze'Aze controlling him like nothing but a puppet. Arme had tried to cheer him up back then, and it was successful. She hoped her second try would bear a fruitful aftermath.

Without invitation, she made her way to the neatly done bed and sat comfortably. There was a faint smell of the woodland lofting around. Arme knew immediately that Lass had just returned from his usual training deep in the forest that stretched from the Outer walls of Serdin to beyond the country. She could feel the boy had took a seat right behind her. They were now, both on the bed, facing opposite to each other. "So Lass.. Are you still thinking about that guy..?"

"Hnn.."

"Hey! Don't 'Hnn..' me!" Arme climbed on to the bed, grabbing Lass' cheeks from behind, pinching them hard. She laughed in glee seeing the pale boy quite surprised to her sudden sneak attack. "You already know I won't understand if you talk that way!" Lass played along with her, struggling free from her clutches without effort. He was reminded on how Arme was like this the last time, in her own gullible way to make someone happy. Though, this time, she was much stronger and harder to beat. Arme laughed in victory that her hands couldn't be so easily removed like before. "Lass! Don't you dare under estimate me! Your stronger than you senior! Ahaha~!"

'Let's see about that..' As a counter attack, Lass twisted his body and pushed her down. The bewildered girl let go of his now red cheeks and landed on her back. She was still giggling in that sweet voice of hers, and Lass, making an evil grin, had to take advantage of it by tickling her. Begging for mercy between the laughs, Arme's face became red as cherry. It was minutes later until they both calmed down from the laughing frenzy, though, still very drunk in glee.

"Finally, you smiled." Dazzled, the silver haired boy watched Arme, in a comforting smile, still flushed from the playing earlier on, lying on next to him in her messed up clothes. Just looking at her made Lass feel an unbearable burning passion in him. He turned away, his face was furiously blushing more than it was just now. But from that angle, Arme could spot his ears turning red. It had just made her giggle more.

Master Seighart was right - Lass was annoyed that he agreed to him - The comfort of a woman was good once in a while for the boy. "T-thanks..." He murmured, only for the girl to solely hear. It wasn't like him to love this much of attention, nor thanking someone for it. He-

"Secret relationship." The low husky voice blurted out those words bluntly, causing the couple to jolt and frantically give each other a large distance. Their faces were still blushing. The bedroom door was wide open and the fair unemotional demon stood there.

"H-How long have you been standing there, Zero?" Arme stuttered in her panic strickened state.

"Long 'nuff. Door was open the whole time." He stared at Arme, who was realizing her mistake and muttering that this was punishment. On the other hand, Lass was glaring at him furiously, shooting daggers at Zero. Unaffected, Zero shrugged it off. "Knightmaster summoned us all. She said something about that demon you wanted to meet..."


	5. Chapter 5

Zero briefly reported that he had brought the two younger teens as he barged into the enormous doors of the Main Hall of Serdin Castle. Scanning the large spacious area, Knightmaster stood tall with her unwavering aura as she nodded in acknowledgment to the demon. in front of her, the members of the Grand Chase had gathered together. It seemed that the three were the last to arrive. "What took you so long?"

"Got lost in thought..." Zero replied immediately, unafraid of speaking back to his superior. A silent sigh of relief came from Arme. She reminded herself to make sure she thanked Zero properly later for not revealing the truth. Knightmaster massaged her temple, trying not to think of how that was possible. 'Then again, Zero was never a normal fellow'.

As the three got closer to the group, they had noticed that there was an unfamiliar hooded figure, standing right behind Knightmaster. Mysterious suspect was written all over him. Lass kept his guard up, having ninja knives at bay. He didn't like the looks on this guy. There were others whom didn't show any signs of trust either. Dio had his claw, itching to pounce and Jin was ready to beat the daylights out of him. This just made Knightmaster laugh. "Relax. I've known this man for years. There's nothing to worry." Though that was said, no one was ready to give in. She sighed, "Well, Melt here, is a traveler. And is loaded with information. Even on that demon you've long to know about, Lass."

Melt, as called by Knightmaster, nodded with no hesitation. His green eyes sparkled as he began to speak with his low toned voice. "The demon you seek goes by the name Rufus Wild. Brunette fluffy hair. Demonic features that only lacked horns. Has a blunt, vulgar way of speaking."

The traveler stopped when the last part of his sentence caught most of them of guard, but it was one of the vital points that Lass knew he possessed. And he truly hated that characteristic. This Melt knew who he was talking about. "Keep going."

"He's a bounty hunter. Well known in the Underworld. I've-"

"The Underworld?" Ronan spoke, suspicion in his tone. The Underworld was a lawless world that hid in the shadows of the Kingdom's powers. Those words itself became a taboo word here in the illuminated world, and only a handful of people knew its existence. And they're usually those with a black history.

"Yes, the Underworld. They want him dead for taking most of the looted kills." Melt continued, unaffected to Ronan's glares. "I've seen how he deals with his enemies since I've once partnered with him. Urgh..." His body shivered slightly with a silent disgusted growl.

"So you know where he is now?" Elesis spoke firmly. With all that, she was confirmed that this man knows more and she was determined to get this problem over with. Melt nodded, his emerald eyes disappeared in the darkness of the hood before reappearing again, to answer the red knight.

"Right now, he'd be in Elia, maybe near the Kastile ruins."

"Alright. Let's go!" Straightaway, the red knight rushed to the doors of the Main Hall. It showed them all how concentrated she was, as well as how curious of this demon. Knightmaster was amused, yes, but sighed in the girls brash acts.

"Elesis. Stop." A knife had stabbed the floor right in front of the red head. She turned back, a burning rage in her eyes as someone had halted her in the most barbaric fashion, and she perfectly knew well who did such. Lass glared at her back. "This is my problem, so I'm going. Alone."

"No can do, kiddo~" A rough ruffle on the thief's hair and the Prime Knight skipped towards his grand daughter, giving a childish smirk to him. "You're one of us. If you go, we all might as well go." Happy-go-luckily, he lifted his descendant from her hips, luggaging her on his own shoulder. The red head struggled in immediate response, hating the way she was treated when he trotted out of the room.

A pat on the thief's back, another red head, this time smiling sheepishly to him. "What Master Seighart is right. We won't feel good if you went on your own, Lass." On the other side, Arme was looking at him, her smile was much more effective on the boy than Jin. The rest of the Grand Chase seemed to have simultaneously followed after those two. Lass sighed. He wasn't willing to get closer to these people in the first place. And now, they've got him feeling something for them.

"Alright, let's go.." The silverette sighed, giving in to his.. ever so nosy, friends.

"Dio. I'd like a word with you before you leave." Knightmaster called out, before he had the chance to disappear out of there. He nodded silently, creeping towards her as the others walked out, knowing that suspicious hooded man was still standing next to her.

"What?" A rough blunt word came out of his mouth, demanding the reason he was chosen to stay back. The purple demon didn't like it. The presence of this 'Melt' near him irritated him so much. There was something odd that he hated about him. Especially how those emerald eyes of his twinkled in the dark shadows of his hood.

"Melt's going with you all to Elia." Dio scowled in anger as his superior added more fuel to the fire. He could feel the hooded man smiling in delight, seeing him suffer. Knightmaster kept her cool and her voice was stern towards him. "Don't fight with me, Dio of Burning Canyon. You are to watch over Melt while you go there."

"Tch.. Understood..." The demon dared not to keep eye contact with the mortal. He'd lose all sense and start to rake her skin off with her claws with rage. Melt nodded to the Knightmaster before he took his leave. The amethyst eyes lingered the untrusted being out of the room before he followed, stalking his every move. He could feel the Knightmaster leaning over him. This time, her voice was softer, with much doubt as each word drifted into his ear.

"I mean it. Watch over that man.."

A proper grin grew on the face of the demon.

"... I'll watch over him real good..."

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><p>"Make it rain.."<p>

The sky above him darkened, and a shower of aramanthine bullets poured down in massive amounts, piercing every living beings around him. He could hear the cries of pain from them, screams that the sufferings caused. The bullets had cleanly killed all who surrounded him, as corpses accumulated around his feet. It had been a while since he used that technique.

And he loved it. He loved seeing them screaming in agony. He loved the way their blood oozed out onto the ground, making a beautiful crimson pool. And he loved the way it helped him imagine the horrid scene more accurately. The scene of that silver thief lying in the midst of the pool.

The wind blew over him, whispering softly against his pale ears. His eyes narrowed. There was a feeling of insecurity in the air. Low raged growls came from his throat as he looked at the horizon, towards the sea that was surrounded by massive lands. Towards the land of Bermessiah.

"That kid.." A grin of pure evil showed up on his face. "He dares play with my possessions..."

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><p><strong>Melt is my own OC that I've wanted to put in for so so long :3 His details, except his green eyes, will be put in later to avoid spoilers XD<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

"Hnn..."

That was the third groan for the day from Amy. Though, it had already been a few days since they left Serdin. The uncomfortable feeling lingered around her, as well as the other Grand Chase members. Jin slowly took the place right next to her, using a low tone. "Amy, please. We've gone through this already..."

"No way! I just can't!" She ranted out loud, halting the traveling party. The muse turned and pointed to the figure just at the tail of the moving troops. The hooded man was unaffected when she rudely shoved her finger right at him. "There is no way I can feel comfortable with him near me!"

"Amy. It's orders from Knightmaster." Elesis growled at the beauty, though she glared at the man. "Once we're on Elia, we'll be on our separate ways.."

"Uuurggh..!" Annoyed at the fact they had to put up with this unappealing situation, Amy marched up to the man. Letting her anger out, she spat silently at him. "You are so lucky to be friends with Knightmaster, you know! If you weren't, I'd kill you!"

"Amy!" The yowl of her name from the front of the party silenced her immediately. The muse paused, before stalking away from him, heading to the front. Elesis had her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose, wondering if Amy was really older than her when she acted so much like a child.

"Sorry about her.." Jin bowed in respect to the hooded one when they were once again, on their way. But there were no such thing as an apologetic tone in his sentence. He was still too suspicious of this Melt person. The hooded man shook his head gently.

"It's me.. I've always had this kind of aura that ticks off people. I'm used to such treatments." Melt walked on, unwavered by the clear thoughts of suspicion that these people had on him. He chuckled, flinching some of the members. "It's not even a surprise if Knightmaster told Dio to keep watch on me." Dio stared at the bearer of the emerald eyes, wondering how he knew the truth to those words the Knightmaster had told him.

"Oh.." That was the fighter before he caught up with the sentinel just a few steps in front. This gave chance for the violet demon to take Jin's former place next to Melt. Melt looked at him, his eyes showed noting but amusement to the violet's, letting him approach him so easily.

"I don't really care whether you're to be trusted or not. I'd prefer knowing why you're not trustworthy at all.." The demon hissed, keeping quiet as he interrogated the hooded man. He only gave a soft chuckle as a reply, irritating the violet demon before he backed away.

From behind, Lass observed carefully at the hooded figure. His leather cloak was long, reaching his knees. Worn out trousers covered the rest of his legs and massive boots wrapped his feet. That was already odd. This man was clearly short, about his, no shorter. And from where he stared at, there seemed to be something from behind, dangling clumsily. It swayed left and right under the cloak as he walked on. And where his head would be, there were two small humps. Clearly they were horns.

_'This man's a demon'_, The thief thought, nodding to himself _'then that must be his tail? But neither Ley or Dio have a tail sticking out of their butts. Who knows what Zero has in his sleeves.. So a different kind..? And that feeling.. It's small, but I sense it. There's a feel of death in his aura..'_

"Master Lass. Are you perhaps inquiring of the person named Melt?" The whisperings of the toneless voice came from behind the silverette as he nodded. Mari was obviously curious to the well being. The thief told the Rune Caster silently of his thoughts. She nodded slowly, letting in the information to her head before she spoke back to him. "I do not think he is a demon at all. There isn't a species known to many with those traits."

"What are you saying..?"

"Melt. Does not have power levels that reach as high as Miss Ley. I estimate that he's strength is at Miss Arme's physical attacks. His walking patterns indicate he is a nimble person, despite such unnatural line of clothes he is equipped with. Further observation will reveal more of his status." Mari had her grimoire* open before her as she scanned the hooded one. "But the last matter had gotten me very puzzled."

"The deathly aura..?"

"Affirmative. This Melt, I feel the presence of pure dark powers in him. Much like what Master Dio is sensing from him. It is very similar to what we have encountered before..." The conversation ended abruptly as Mari went back to her book, reading on what seemed like gibberish to the thief. He was surprised at two things. He had a conversation longer than 5 seconds. And he realized how familiar that dark aura was.

_'No.. It can't be..'_

* * *

><p>The Hellish day ended without anyone speaking, other than irksome grunts that came from Amy, of course. Though they knew Melt didn't mind them being cautious of him, it made them more wary of his existence around them. But after all that, Melt seemed to have just laughed it off.<p>

Quickly making their camp just on the side of the path they had taken, Lire had volunteered to scout the area, bringing along Amy with her to keep her from whining any more than she was. Ronan decided he'd lead a hunting party, consisting of Elesis and Ryan. It seemed that Ley and Zero disappeared somewhere and Seighart gave up helping Jin set up tents to sleep in. Arme was busy making the fire, with Lass who brought in some dry firewood, leaving Dio and Mari to watch over the idle star gazing Melt.

"Urgh.. This fire won't live!" Arme was fustrated. Each attempt she tried to create even a little spark failed. Lass sat across her, staring at how her fingers clumsily gripped on the tinder and the firewood. If he was truthful to her, he'd point out the many mistakes she was making. But she'd yell at him harshly. So he kept his mouth shut. He decided he'll help when she asks him for it. At least it wasn't him that would hurt her pride. And soon enough, she whined. "Lass..! Heeeeelp..."

He stared at her, teary eyed and feeling irritated. He was careful not to smirk at that face she held. The thief knew how deadly she can be when she's outraged. Much terrible than Elesis going amok. He threw that thought to the back of his mind as he created a multiple hand signs which created a small spark of flame right at the fire pit. It burned lively.

"Lass! You have to teach me that!" Arme half joked, half amused, all serious. Lass gave her a brief shook and a sly smirk. "Awww... Come on~!"

"Are they always this lovey dovey together..?" Lass paused, shot a glare at the origin of the voice whilst Arme glanced away from the silverette, keeping herself busy trying to keep the fire alive. Melt was watching them from the outer part of the camp, having curious eyes peering the two teens.

"Sure they are." Another call, this time it was from the 600 year old hero. He was lying comfortable on a tree branch now, keeping out of the red head fighter's way of setting up the tents. Seighart loved to bully the younger members of the Grand Chase as much as he loved his naps, and that was no exception.

"Master Seighart..." A low growl seeped out of the silverette. He wanted to drive his ninja knifes right at the immortal's head, but he knew that the immortal will evade it with ease and start to fool around much more. The thief had his palm in his face, trying to cool himself down. The background was filled with a hearty laughter that came from a satisfied raven haired who had selfishly won his childish war.

Content from watching the drama genred romantic comedy, Melt rose from his seat, only to have caught everyone's attention. Dio took hold of his left leg, not letting him out of his sight. The emerald eyes stared back to the violet eyes. "Dio. Are you looking forward to seeing me piss?"

Taken by surprise, the demon jerked away. Seighart found another reason to laugh longer. Irritated by the mocking of the immortal, the demon growled harshly before he had leaped towards him, claws prepared to kill. The knight purposely lost his balance on the branch, avoiding the assault and grabbing his gladius on the base of the tree. "Finally! Something fun to do!"

The battle of the two grand powers gave out an immense force, all the younger members can only watch in awe. Although Dio and Seighart always fought each other, each battle seemed to have become much more dangerous, yet so amazing. But this would ultimately end up with the both of them drained of energy and lying on the ground, spitting foul words at each other and only the surroundings destroyed. The rune caster had remembered these events which occurred countless times as she took out her revolver and aimed. "Master Seighart. Master Dio. Please restraint yourself. This useless battle had given us no profit. Only loss of the subject called Melt."

"Huhn?... Lousy mortals..." The demon spat curses to the ground as he immediately withdrew from the fight, now noticing that the hooded man had already disappeared. He leaped upwards, on the branches and started to scan the area. The knight, however, didn't seem to feel disturbed. The raven haired dropped his jacket on the spot and lied on his back. "You ass. It's your fault if he runs away and kills us somehow..."

"Come on. Can't you still sense him nearby? 'Sides, I gave him the chance to piss privately." The immortal continued to laugh, creating more doubt over his juniors and hatred in the violet demon.

* * *

><p>"Thank Mother Nature for this food.." Ryan held down the wild boar, taking a dagger from his pocket and silencing it. The whines of protest died, the pool of blood accumulated on below its throat. So far, this was the cleanest kill he had done tonight. He dragged the boar to the spot where he had left his collected fresh kills in the past hour, which was but a few rabbits and a falcon. <em>'When was I this slow?'<em>

"Guuuaaaahhh..." The mourning growl caught his attention as he dropped the boar on the top of the pile. He crouched down, taking his hunter's stance, locating the origin of such pained groan. And right on the corner of his eye, he spotted someone.. Or something.. Leaving him gawking in bewilderment.

It was pure white. The skin that coated the being was white as snow as it leaned on the tree. Hands were grasping on its head that was covered with faint blue unkempt hair. Its fingertips were all crimson, with rings of azure that lengthened up to his white palms. Its face was colorless as well, except the azure strip across his eyes, much like a masquerade mask, and three small, yet shining green pearls embedded on to its forehead. The rest of its body was coated with the darkness of the shadows.

"D-don't come out..." It growled. There was a familiarity to its voice. The druid, careful to keep his presence concealed, sneaked closer. It was twitching in pain, emerald eyes were half open. _'Melt?'_

"Let me out!" A lower tone spat out of him. This time, there was a cruel feeling entwined to it, causing a shiver in the elf's back.

"Go back to sleep, d-damn it.."

"I'll k-kill you...!"

"You'll.. never wake up.. again.."

Melt head banged himself on the tree, shocking the hidden druid. He seemed to have regained his usual composure after a few deep breaths, and continued leaning back on to the tree. He cursed silently. _'Who was he debating against..?'_ Ryan thought, still curious of its well being, still fascinated at his appearance. The half open emerald eyes were still glittering under the moonlight, now met the blazing orange's. "So the elf saw this mess, huh?"

Ryan stood, revealing himself since he was already spotted. His axe was ready to chop the foreigner's head off. "What the Hell was that?"

The being just sighed and shook his head. Putting back on his hood, he clumsily walked to the druid. Not knowing what to do, Ryan kept his guard up, until Melt collapsed before him. Quickly reacting, he grasped the man, realizing how light he was. "Urrghh... That took a lot out of me.."

"Melt. I'd like answers.. But I guess that can wait.."

A small huff of glee came from Melt as he felt the blurry darkness of slumber taking over, "Don't worry, druid.. You have my word..."

* * *

><p>"Nnn..." He forced the heavy eyelids to open, only to find a load of people looking down on him. "GYAAA! W-whatcha all looking at! Give a guy some space!" His yelp forced away the crowd, yet he still held their attention. He felt a breeze all over his body, immediately nothing but his pants were on him. "My cloak!"<p>

"Elesis slipped and dropped her food all over you when you slept last night. So we took it off and cleaned it. It's still drying now." Lire, with her apologetic tone, informed him. Not that he cared what happened, since his body was still uncomfortably exposed to them all. Forcefully, he yanked off Lire's cape, wrapping himself in them, leaving the bowman quite dumbfounded. Nevertheless, the group was still looking at him.

"What? You'd prefer to stare at me naked?"

"N-no!" Lire jumped back, feeling embarrassed. Elesis and Arme turned red as well. Though, Amy was curious as Ley, wanting to know more of the alien body. Melt sighed. He knew something like this would've happened. He hid himself deeper in the bowman's cape.

"You are indeed an interesting subject. I would like to run some tests on you.." Mari leaned closer to the shy male who shuffled away from the rune caster. "Please stay still. A strange species like you must be studied thoroughly."

"Mari. You're scaring the poor kid." Seighart halted her advances, pulling her back to her seat. The cyan haired sighed in relief. "Though, it's true that we're now curious about how you look, kid."

"Hnn..." He groaned, "As you can see, I'm a half breed. Part human. And part..." The pointed ears that jutted out of his head and the fluff of tails flicked from his behind. The tips of both of the parts had the same patterns as his finger tips. "Part.. Monster.."

It startled the group, Ryan included, since he did not notice the later features. Melt was feeling reluctant, his tails twitched in irritation as it was freely exposed, something he was unused to. The ice broke when Amy screeched.

"SO CUTE!" She had pounced on the man, grabbing his ears and tails. "OH MY GOSH! They're so fluffy!"

"R-really?" Arme approached the now startled and paralyzed Melt and pet him. "Wah! It's like a little pet's fur~!"

"N-no! Don't!" The struggles of the half breed from the two girls made the violet demon laugh. Dio wanted to enjoy this as long as he can, especially after how annoying he was acting before. Mari had finally broke free from Seighart's grip and got herself observing closely to the skin Melt possessed. To add more fuel, Lire pulled off her cape, finding amusement to the shyness of the male and Elesis had let herself lose and joined the fun. "S-stop this!" On the pale face, everyone could see how furiously his cheeks were blushing.

The chaos ended when the stomach of the half breed growled loudly. It had reminded them that he hadn't eaten since lunch of the day before.

* * *

><p>The Grand Chase had continued on they journey, with a much livelier feel than the days before. The girls did not want to return the half breed his cloak to make him go through the torture of being so exposed as well as to enjoy watching the way his tails bounced left and right. Melt, on the other hand, now seeking comfort by hopelessly trying to hide himself right under Jin's short cape.<p>

"I can't call him a lousy mortal.." Dio grunted, still amused. "Maybe, lousy dog."

"I sense he still hides something.. Grandark says" Zero stared at the twitching tail, his hands flinched, wanting to know how soft it would feel. The eyes of the sword rolled to his bearer's innocence.

"Agreed. But at least we won't have to worry as much.."

The whispering chats of his seniors lulled into his ears. Lass knew how they felt. _'So what if his appearance was revealed? That doesn't show how trustworthy this man was... And those patterns all around him.. I think I've seen them already... Somewhere...'_

"GWAAAAAAARRRR" Thousands of gorgons ambushed them, lusting revenge on the Grand Chase for murdering their beloved leader. The team immediately went on battle stance, and went to the battle head on.

"Arme! Keep Melt safe!" Elesis commanded, swinging her sword "Mega Slash!"

The purple haired teen whined in protest, but she had to obey her leader's commands. "Stay behind me."

On the left, Mari had summoned her Eraser to wipe out all in front of her. Seighart bounced everywhere, laughing whilst he using Mocking Blade. Lire swept the area with her Dive Bombing whilst Ryan destroyed the collected enemies with his transformation. Zero kept nodding to himself, though he was muttering to Grandark, before he struck the enemies with Gran X. The Dance Fever of Amy strengthen the group, before she went to collect enough mana to prepare for her 3 skill performance for later on. Jin and Ronan leaped in and destroy the army from the inside. Ley had finished summoning her pets for assualts and Dio pierced through with his Onrush.

"This is endless!" Lass leaped upwards after unleashing his Raven Walker, seeing thousands more monsters on the horizon. He double jumped and threw down multiple kuneis before he landed and started a chain of assaults on the enemies in front of him.

"What could have attracted so many in one spot?" Lire shot up, sending down rains of arrows upon the enemies. One by one they fell, but it had taken her quite some time to gain enough mana to do such.

"Kyaa!" Arme screamed, not noticing the charging Harpies from above. By reaction, Lass withdrew from his brutal killing spree.

"Arme!"

The mage was knocked down, yet she remained conscious, and felt a heavy weight above her. Melt's breath was lulling over her ears. "You okay?" The mage couldn't help but blush when she heard such a voice entered into her ears. She hesitatingly nodded. The half breed stood up, pulling the mage up with him. He turned to the silverette and gave him a reassuring nod before he glanced at the hoard of monsters.

"Wait! You're not equipped with anything!" The red knight yowled at the half breed when she saw him run head on. Just as Mari predicted, he was nimble, easily dodging every enemy. The red head was stubborn and angry at the fact he didn't listen to her. "Wait you stupid beast!" She forced herself through the many walls of opponents to try and reach him. But it wasn't long until they noticed he was heading to the heart of the massive army.

From there, Melt could see not only gorgons, orcs had risen up and mingled somewhere in the area. Harpies flying over with the Ghosts Priests of Gaikoz's Castle following them. It's as if the monsters of all of Bermessiah had moved to this very point. And with his back at the Grand Chase, Melt couldn't help it.

He smiled in satisfaction.

"Regina Tenebrae's Wrath!" The half breed roared. A black wave blasted out from his mouth, disintegrating the surrounding monsters. The wave hastened as it grew further from the origin. Quickly thinking, Ley ordered the freshly summoned Jeeves to create a barrier, as she pulled back many of the Chasers back.

"What is this..!" Jin slid behind the clear pink barrier. He saw Dio had rushed behind as well, the colors on his face disappeared. It must have been something so dangerous.

"Pure Darkness..."

* * *

><p>Peace lofted around the island. The leaves giggled with the whispering winds. There wasn't a sight of monsters in the scene. Like a beautiful landscape.<p>

But on the ground, lied the Grand Chase, all in their exhausted, fatal conditions.

"Everyone alright..?" The Blue Knight called out to his friends. He received multiple groans back, a few coughs in between. "Amy, you've got any mana in you?"

"N-no.. Not enough to heal us all..."

"I'm alright.. I didn't do much fighting.." The purple teen was the odd one out. She did not seemed to have taken any signs of hits, the result of her mana shield. "I can heal."

"Where's Melt..?" The violet demon growled. "Knew he wasn't so trustworthy.. Trying to blast us of with all that Darkness."

"I do believe Melt is still standing at his spot." Jeeves was still standing tall, in his usual butler pose. But his heavy breathings tell them that he was as weakened as the rest.

"I'll kill him!" Dio, outraged, rushed towards the being. He could feel the immortal in his rage mode right behind him, with his hot headed great granddaughter in fury. The thief was on his way, flanking the emotionless seeker. But the moment they came close, they froze from their tracks.

"That's..!"

"You are..."

"You're a damned woman?"

* * *

><p><strong>*Grimoire - Did I spell that right? It's that book that Mari holds as a weapon. I don't like calling it 'book', it'll sound so weak..<strong>

**Guuuuuhh... This was challenging.. I'm so not used to writing many characters in one scene in one go.. But I am satisfied :3  
><strong>

**Melt's 3rd Skill - Regina Tenebrae's Wrath : A furious roar, creating a dark wave that destroys all enemies around.. Has a bad side effect on the user though. Will be told later on... .**

* * *

><p>Random scene :<p>

Dio:Hey! Lousy dog! Sit!  
>Melt sits automatically.<br>Melt:... Shit...  
>Dio:Damn! It actually worked? Lie down!<br>Melt lies down, against his will.  
>Melt:Noooo! *Blush*<br>Dio:Huhuhu.. This is clearly interesting... :D  
>Melt:Go die, Dio! You too Hanako!<br>Hanako:... Dio, will you do the honors?  
>Dio:With pleasure... Lousy dog, jump of a cliff.<br>Melt reluctantly stands up, forcefully walked off a cliff.  
>Hanako:And this is why I let Knightmaster entrust you to watch him~<br>Dio:You're too kind, Hanako. :3

I'm especially evil towards my own characters...


	7. Chapter 7

**Edit done :D Thank you Shado :3**

* * *

><p>Two figures. Standing opposite to each other on a white pillar, surrounded by pitch black. One of them, began snarling furiously at the other. Spitting out curses, as he struggled to reach the other's throat whilst being strapped down by distinctive silhouettes of chains. The other watched, smirking slyly. Knowing that struggling free brought nothing, he calmed himself. He then glared deathly, getting the same reaction from the other.<p>

"You.. You used that technique!"

"I'll do whatever I want.."

".. You like that magician.."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll make sure to rip her apart one by one.."

"You can't!"

"Watch me.."

* * *

><p>"Nnn..." A low grunt flowed out, through the jagged fangs. His eyelids were heavy, but he forced them open when he felt a dim light shining over them. He could see the moon, watching upon him with an eerie expression. He could feel his body moving in a soft, swaying motion. He caught a whiff of blood, flinching at how natural it was to him.<p>

"So the lousy dog's awake." The familiar growl came from next to him. Melt saw the violet demon, cross armed and sitting right next to him, wolfing down a large chunk of cooked meat. Staring at the juicy food had caused his stomach to growl, much louder than usual. The demon grunted, tearing off a small piece and shoving it right in front of him. "Well? You going to eat it or what?"

Wanting to accept the offering, he reached out to it. But failed as he realized his white wrists were chained down. Why was the half breed in this position? He didn't care for it now, he was too hungry to think about it. Leaning forward, Melt bit on the food, careful not to drop it as he hastily ate it. The violet demon rose up, still eating as he called out. "Yo. The dog's up."

"Right." He could see the red knight walking towards them, followed by the rest of the Grand Chases. All wearing the same serious expression. As they crowded around him, he had realized the scenery had drastically changed. Floorboards on the ground, a tall pole right behind him that held out a large sail. On the horizon, was a vast amount of water. They were on sea, probably already left the land of Bermessiah and heading towards Silver Land.

The druid approached him first, kneeling right in front. "Well, Melt. You did promise me to tell everything.."

"Promise..? Ah that.." He lapped his lips, savoring as much of the meat he can get. "I only said I'd tell you about that mess you saw." Elesis was irritated, somehow, but was silenced by Ronan, next to her. Melt sighed and looked down. "Right, right. I think I'll get more food if I had told you all earlier about myself clearly..."

"You got that right.." The muse huffed, soon halted by the mage.

"My full name is Melt Regina Tenebrae, or Melt, Queen of Darkness." They flinched. That cursed title belonged to only one person, and they despised her.

"Why do you have Kaze'Aze's title?" The thief growled. He of all the Grand Chase members was the most badly affected by that bloody woman. He knew she had disappeared from the trace of this world, but now, seeing this Melt, Lass knew that she'd be back.

"... Because I was supposed to be the original Kaze'Aze vessel..."

* * *

><p>"Wake up, Melt.."<p>

Gently, the boy lifted his eyes, following the commands obediently, as if he had nothing else to do. Around him, were hooded men, all in awe, a hopeful smile across their faces. One of them reached out his hand. "Melt, come with me."

The boy followed him from where he had lied, an old operating bed where faint traces of red was smeared everywhere. His bare feet had stepped on to the cold floor, sending chills up to his spine. Yet he dared not to show hesitation and kept of trailing the hooded man. On his long cape, was a noticeable crest- Round, black and detailed. Behind him, were many others that were like him, chanting some sort of mystical words, holding candles with blue flames.

The path they took was a dark one, there were no lights but the blue flames shining their way. Yet the fact that he became sightless did not fear the boy. He had nothing to think, and therefore had nothing to fear at all. It took quite a while until they saw a dull blue light straight ahead. There, a plain wide room full of more of the hooded men. An altar stood before them, distorted and dusty, surrounded by more candles of blue flames. Below the altar was a table.

"Melt Regina Tenebrae, you are given a great honor." The man in front of him spoke, leading him up to the table, the men behind him joined the rest. He pulled the boy to the table, nudging him forth to lie down on it. Once he was lying down again, he looked at the man. "You will be the body that our Queen will use." Not knowing what that meant, the child stayed silent, watching the man turn away and face the rest. He had his hands in the air, creating a roar of approvals amongst the other men. "Now everyone! The time has come to have our Queen, The Great Kaze'Aze, to finally walk this earth and rule this world!"

They saluted after him, chanting a more foreign language that he did not recognize. But he knew, that it was affecting the blue flames that flickered around them, burning much more fiercely than usual. Then it's light engulfed the room. And the boy blanked out.

He woke up in a white room, finding another person standing before him. Taller, dignified and much more beautiful compared to him- short, small and plain. She had curly long hair and such attractive eyes. He could not help but stare at her. She giggled lightly, amused to his innocence.

"So they decided to offer a little cute boy." She slinked towards him, scanning him from head to toe. He wore nothing, more or less, those men prepared not a single piece of cloth to cover his nude pale body. Her fingertips slid from his collarbone up to his chin, making him shiver ignorantly. His turquoise eyes were too shy to meet hers, hiding behind his long darker turquoise bangs. She gave yet another smile. "Adorable, yes. But can you be worthy to be my own slave?"

She held him by his waist, the other hand still at his chin. Pulling him closer, she suddenly locked lips with him. He was shocked, not knowing such foreign gesture, therefore he did nothing to resist her. The room was slowly engulfed with darkness, from corners first, encroaching everywhere. Even when she broke away from him, the darkness continued to spread. When it filled the room, she smirked, the boy was dazed with nothing in his eyes.

The room suddenly shook violently. They stumbled, but regained their balance quickly. Not knowing what had happened, the boy had felt something was wrong, that he had to panic. The woman on the other hand, scanned the room, there was an ooze of the darkness spilling down to the floor, filling up the small room.

"Ohohohoh.. So it's still too fragile to contain all my powers.." She smiled, watching the boy in fear when the thick water had filled up to his waist. She turned her back to him, uttering such harsh words to him. "You are not suitable." A second later, she disappeared into thin air, her body dispersing everywhere, leaving the boy all alone to drown in the darkness.

He couldn't move an inch. Fear had engulfed him. He felt he had fallen deeper into the tenebrous abyss. Those men wouldn't, they were offering him to this so called Queen they worshiped. And that woman, she left him there without a second thought. There was a deep stab in him and tears leaked out from his eyes. He felt his own body had shattered. Yet he remembered a hand reaching out to him from a far.

* * *

><p>"Hey! Wake up!" Harshly woken up this time, he jolted from his slumber. He did not see the hooded man whom had calmly nudged him before, instead was a pale brunette with red eyes decked out with maroon clothes. He felt uncomfortable, realizing he had been lying down on a split table. The boy tried to stand, but stumbled down, feeling very groggy. He saw the floor, filled with thick red liquid, the hooded men lying in that crimson pool. Behind, the altar had shattered. The blue flames had vanished, yet light casted upon them from the hole in the ceiling.<p>

"I didn't tell you to stand." The brunette had covered him with his own jacket, caressing his petite body as he made a seat next to him. He had not realized how warm those fingers felt against him, but it was actually he who was terribly cold. By instinct, he curled himself deeper into that warm leather jacket. A chuckle seeped out of the brunette as he kept watching the boy. "What's your name?"

At first, he felt hesitant to speak. He was never once questioned before, thus had no reason to let words out of his mouth. The brunette gave him a soft smile, encouraging him to talk. "...M-melt... Called Melt Regina... Tenebrae.."

"Melt, Queen of Darkness? Odd name." He huffed gently, sliding his hand up to the hair of the boy, ruffling it. The boy however, felt awkward, having said his name was said differently than told, as well as being said that it was _odd_. "Just call yourself Melt from now on."

".. O-okay.." He coughed out, he had not realized his voice was never much used, thus was very hard to speak through his already worn out throat. The brunette stood, reaching out his hand, surprising the boy. It had reminded him the same hand that reached out to him, saving him from that traumatic experience. He latched on without hesitation, only to be pulled up and to stand on his own two feet.

"I'm Rufus Wild. Your new owner." An evil grin had spread across his face, making the boy flinch, yet it was a smile that fits him well. He nodded obediently. "A half breed like you would likely last longer with another half breed."

Not knowing what his words meant, he looked down to the pool of blood. A ghastly expression made its way to his face, as he became aware of what had happened to his appearance. He was no longer human, possessing ears that jutted out from his hair, and tails that had randomly appeared from his behind. His eyes and hair were no longer turquoise. They had turned emerald, and the later, sky blue. Frightened at what had suddenly happened to him, he backed away in fear from that reflection.

But there was a gentle touch from behind. Rufus kept him from running away. "Best you face the truth now than later on. You've become a half breed."

"Y-yeah.." He nodded, still unsure of the truth to what had happened. _I'm_ _half a monster.._

* * *

><p>"Rufus took care of me ever since." The half beast wolfed down the grilled meat given to his unchained hands, swallowing his bite, tails wagging fiercely, showing how excited he felt when the taste exploded in his mouth. "That's pretty much it.."<p>

A gentle pat on his head halted him from what he was doing. The silverette had ruffled his hair softly, he understood how fearsome it was being swallowed by the Queen's terrible darkness. "You went through a lot, didn't you.."

"... Thief..." The half beast looked up, meeting sapphire eyes, "It's okay. I've moved on from those events of my life. Rufus told me to get over it immediately." Yet, the thief continued to pat the cyan hair. In turn, the half beast gave in and let out a purr of comfort from the gentle touch that he was receiving.

"Aren't you close to this Rufus that we're searching for." Elesis, still wary of the being, glared at him with distrust. "And now, you're leading us to him as if you're betraying the guy." She was then nudged harshly by Ronan, though he had the same intent as the girl. In return, she stomped his foot with utter strength, getting a yowl of pain from the older man.

"Oh no. We were never close. I said so before." Melt pointed out what he had told the Grand Chase days ago, having the Knightmaster as the eyewitness. "He's always out for Bounty Hunts. And when he comes back, he's a pervert. More or less the reason I left him." There was a growl of irritation that seeped out from the beast.

"How does one hate the person who took care of you..?" The cream haired demon questioned his Grandark. The sword rolled his eye away from the demon, triggering the demon to nudge him harder to gain his answer from the silent blade. It was a strange scene to watch to the others, they will never understand how Zero works with Grandark.

"Though, even after all that, it doesn't explain what I just witnessed that night." Ryan glanced at Melt. "Well? Promises shouldn't be broken now.."

Before anyone was to ask the druid what he was talking of, the half beast withdrew from the thief's caress, gazing up into the moon that shone above them. It was illuminating brightly in the surrounding darkness. Something that he recognized clearly. "Even if I was saved from that abyss, the darkness still lingered in me."

"You mean..?"

"There are remnants of her powers in me. They want to break free and control me. Use me for my original purpose." The unwanted silence floated over them, bringing an uncomfortable sensation in their bodies. Yet the half beast blinked blankly.

"So the return of the Queen is possible, huh?" The Gladiator whined, "This kid will wage war against humans, kill thousands, have many strong monsters under his wrath, and might kill us like he did with the Kanavan Trackers all over again..." He gave out a lazy sigh, "This is _not_ how I wanted to spend my immortality.."

"Shut it, ass." Dio growled at Seighart. The gladiator had already created sparks of anger in the rest of the Grand Chase as he had spilled out unwanted words. "I'd like to make sure I fight you all over again and kill you this time.."

The half beast chuckled, even under the heavy tension. "I won't worry if I were you guys. I mean, you were the ones who killed Kaze'Aze last time, I'm sure you can do it again before she send you all into a rip~!" His optimistic smile cooled down the heat above the Grand Chase.

"Yeah! I know it can be possible!" Elesis tightened her fist, shooting it up into the air. "You said only her remnants of her powers, right? Then she's weaker than before! There's no way we can lose!" Her confident words roared out of her burning spirit. She had rallied the younger Grand Chasers easily, though the older members merely gave her a huff for her cute determination.

"Now these are the kiddies I know." Seighart ruffled his great granddaughter, receiving a whine of protest from her. "Well, now that's over with, I'll be having my sleep now~"

"Hey! It's your turn to do night watch!"

"Not my problem."

The debates between the ancestor and descendant went on, ignored so easily by rest of the crew on board as they went their separate ways into their cabins of the small boat, though the wanderer continued to press on to his sword that wouldn't give him a satisfying answer. The thief stayed next to the half beast.

"Thief? You're staying to keep watch?" Melt took back his seat, enjoying the moonlight shining over him. The silverette shook his head, taking a seat across him. "Company then.."

A long silence lulled over. Lass was thinking of the half beast. He was going to go through what the thief had faced. Remembering the words of the mage that had cheered him up before, he spilled them out clumsily. "It's not your fault you're in this position.."

"Heh. Never thought of it." The half beast took hold of the meat he have yet to finish. It had turn cold, but he ate it despite such condition. "I've blamed it on humans. _They _who wanted war." The emptiness of sound continued to hover over them. Melt's nose twitched as he took in the last bite of his meal. "You know, you're familiar.. Did you know, you have the same face as Rufus.. Same scent too."

The thief grunted. "That's the reason I'm searching for him."

"... Of course. You two have been apart for quite some time..." Before the thief could question, Melt continued, "No.. I was thinking of something else.."

The gladiator had lazily dragged himself towards the two. The lazy sigh from him told the two that he had lost against his great granddaughter. "Night shift on a boat with only three other guys and a sword. That isn't so exciting at all..."

The thief rolled his eyes, noticing that Zero hadn't moved from his spot yet. "I was never on night shift." He stood to return into the cabins. "Melt, let's go.."

"Hold on. Since when did you make friends, kid?" The gladiator halted the thief with his large hand, curious to his mental development. The thief shrugged off the hand, glaring at the obsidian eyes. He gave back a smirk. "Come now, I'd like to act as the responsible one once in a while~" He then took Melt by the waist, catching them off guard. "Sides, I'm interested in you.."

"Huh? W-wait! G-gladiator..!"

"I saw you right after you used that technique. You're a woman, aren't cha?"

"I-.. It's not what you think!" The half beast had turned red. The thief turned red as well, suddenly remembering the scene days ago.

* * *

><p>"You're a woman?" Seighart dropped his weapon, his jaws hit the ground hard, seeing the scene. Lass was curious why he had shouted such, as he approached closer to the half beast. He immediately realized the blast was strong, enough to disintegrate the clothes that Melt once possessed. Revealing a naked body.<p>

It was a woman's body.

Blood rushed into his head seeing such vital regions. But the half beast had already fallen to _his_ knees, then to _his_ face. Unconscious.

* * *

><p>"I remembered it pretty well." Melt, currently in the spare clothes of the fighter, a small portion <em>his<em> chest was revealed, was tightly in the legend's grip. The fingers of the free hand of the gladiator glided on the exposed parts, making _him _flinch. "You know, only all of us here, and Dio, know you are a woman down there.. Little red was a tad to late to see it.."

"W-well.. I.. ahh..." Biting _his_ lips as the gladiator's fingers had traced along _his_ collarbone, the chills had made _him_ feeling distorted.

"Man or woman, they're both sensitive if you know where to touch, you know."

"Seighart." Zero growled, turning away from Grandark, much to it's relief. He had stopped the gladiator's advances and snapped the thief out of his wild trance. "Where to touch?"

Mused by the wanderer's curiosity, he held back the little beast and pointed out the many sensitive areas of the body, creating whines of protest. Before the wanderer could get a small touch, the thief had saved the poor beast from the gladiator's wrath, throwing knifes right next to his feet as warnings. Seighart scowled, having his source of entertainment lost to some brat. "What a kill joy.."

"T-thanks.. t-thief..." Melt was shivering in fear as _he _stumbled to hide behind the solace that was the silverette.

"But.. Seriously, I'm curious. Are you really a woman? You're flashback story said otherwise..." The demon nodded in agreement to the immortal, as the two older men peered at the shy being.

"I-it's.. That technique... It has a bad side effect..." Melt glanced away, feeling weird as _he_ was glared by the two predators. "It takes a way a lot of my energy.. Knocking me out for about four days in maximum. And... Temporarily. Turns. Me. In. To. A..." _His _last few words trailed away, not wanting to admit the weak spot of that certain technique.

"Oh.. So you're a guy down there now? Eh... That's lame.." Seighart stopped his futile advances. "Thought it be much more fun for my life when there's a shy girl in the group... Much interesting than the girls. Nee, Zero?"

"... I still want to touch..."

"Zero.. Your ignorance _never_ fail to amaze me..."

The thief rolled his eyes, guiding the half breed into the cabins. The next day will lead them to land, but for now, sleep was better for the two.

"Now, now Lass~! Don't pounce on poor little Melt while he sleeps~!" The gladiator called out, making a mischievous smile. "It could be temporary, but Melt might still be a woman as we speak!"

A burst of steam rushed out of the thief. He yowled back at the immortal, with a much evil smirk. "I'll make sure Elesis knows you tried to assault Melt!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Elesis~"

* * *

><p>The dark blast could be seen even from the continent of Ellia. The crimson eyes blinked, throwing such image to the back of his mind. He lied on his back, lying in the ruins. "How interesting.. The Queen even wiped out her own worshiping monsters like it was nothing... And they put in so much effort to welcome her back with a parade..."<p>

He gently closed his eyes, letting himself be brought to slumber. "First you go off with my possession. Then you play with another of my own. And now you make a show of yourself... Brats like you should really die..."

The calm zephyr blew over him, whispering away. He took one last look at the moon that shone above him.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm tired... I'm still not used to writing many characters in a scene...<strong>  
><strong>But.. FIGHT ON~! XD<strong>  
><strong>Advice anyone? Just R&amp;R. I'm appreaciating them all. :3<br>**

* * *

><p>Melt:... Why... A woman...?<br>Hanako:... You deserve to be tortured...  
>Melt:.. You're the worse... Sides that.. What's with the two people at the beginning of the- *SLAM*<br>Hanako:Lalalala~ Ignore this dog~  
>Melt:You.. FEAR ME FOR I AM KAZE'A-<br>Lass:DIEEEEEEEEE!... Oh.. I'm sorry Melt...  
>Melt dies of being beaten up by Lass...<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

**I changed the title. It's a much suitable title, I suppose... ^^" Well, uh.. Let the story begin?**

* * *

><p>Passing through Silver Land wasn't as planned as Amy was soon flocked by thousands of her fans in the town of the land she once served in. They were very happy to have the star visit them. Very happy.<p>

"T-Thank you all very much!" Amy screamed in glee, finally getting attention all to herself. "I love you all~!" The rest of the troops had sighed. Amy was never going to change.

"Lass, where are you goi-" Arme's words stopped. She noticed the thief had separated himself from the group, following the footsteps of the half beast, now wearing his hood. She scowled lightly to herself. Ever since they knew Melt had traces of Kaze'Aze's powers in him, Lass had stuck to him like glue and she had not have a chance to play with him. It was beginning to irritate her.

"Jealous that you Lassy's spending more time with Melty?" The pink demon flanked her, whispering into her ear. The teen shivered, feeling her breath lofting around her. She gave Ley a stern look, yet her cheeks were blushing. Ley laughed it off. "You mortals are very interesting, if I do say so myself~"

The mage pouted. What the demon said was right, and it was hard to admit it. She felt extremely jealous that Lass was spending more time with Melt that it's killing her. It confuses her that it was making her feel such, she was quite new to this field of life. And it has made it depressing that Lass had a good reason to be with Melt. The thief was just trying to do what she had done to him in the past.

_Oh! Why did Melt had to be Kaze'Aze's vessel of all people? Why can't it be the Void? Then those demons or Master Seighart would've stuck to him!... Oh man.. I'm not supposed to think this.._

A soft pat on her shoulder snapped the mage out of her internal conflict. The summoner blinked at her happily before she leans closer to the teen's nape, her fingers sliding down and circling around her collarbone. "I don't like seeing cute little girls looking so lost when it's not my fault~" The mage flinched, fear of the continuation of this demon, backing away from her awkwardly. Ley hummed, grinning mischievously. "Don't worry about it. Mortals whom are like that just want to forge a bond of friendship that will never break. Much similar to yours and Elesis there.."

".. I see..." Yet the mage just can't help but feel worried. She was scared that Lass was taken away from her grasp.

* * *

><p>"I hate crowded places..." The half beast growled, looking back to see that they were far enough from the town. The thief had no choice but to understand. He himself did not like areas as such, drawing much attention to oneself. It was something against the assassin's code. Melt, on the other hand, was half beast. He'd scare the living daylights out of any commoner present.<p>

The thief pulled off his hood, revealing the flicking ears. They were relaxing to look at, really. Some what nostalgic to him as well. He began petting it. Melt, at first, scowled. But he gave in to the younger boy and purred. "Is this going to be a regular thing? I might as well charge you for this."

"Yes it will." He promptly confirmed the question, continuing to ruffle the silky hair. It had only been two days since they had gotten ashore from the boat, and the thief had explored every single part of the head, knowing each sensitive points as if memories of such had reappeared from long ago. He had been careful to keep his distance to the male as close as he could, wanting to prevent the darkness from taking over him. Especially after what happened in their cabin.

* * *

><p>The half beast bounced on to the bed, curling himself into a ball, much like a pet dog. He purred in the comfort of the small bed, loving the softness after sleeping on the hard ground for many days. The thief climbed up, taking the bed hanging above the beast. Across the room, another bunk bed was stuck to the wall, Jin snoring loudly at the bottom. The top bed was still unoccupied, it was either for Zero or Seighart, who is currently being yelled at by his own great granddaughter.<p>

Taking the blanket over him, the thief seek the darkness that was slumber. At times like this, he longed for a peaceful sleep. Yet thoughts of the return of one of his nightmares, Kaze'Aze, haunted him like it was nothing. He shook his head, turning over to his side, _'This is harder that it used to...'_

"Guuuhhh..."

The angst mourn came from below him. Unable to sleep, he had no choice to peek below, only to find his roommate shivering. Not because he was cold, but he was in fear as pearls of sweat had flowed down on his skin. He was breathing rapidly, tails twitching wildly as he let out another pained groan.

"I s-said not to come out..."

"I rather die than take orders from you.."

"Then just go to Hell..!" He roared, shutting his eyes as tightly as possible, claws scratching away the air in front of him. Though he winced in pain in turn, as if he had clawed himself. Another strike to the imaginary opponent made the half beast twist his own body, he was torturing himself.

"Melt..! Wake up!" The emerald eyes immediately blinked open, delusional with desperation and fear. The thief was beside him, wearing a worried face, gripping tightly to his wrists and forcing them down. It was clear to Melt that the thief had witnessed him fighting his own shadow in his dreams. He gave a pained sigh, forcing a smile of reassurance.

"Don't mind me, thief.. It's just another nightmare... They'll heal fast anyways.." The emerald eyes closed again, breathing at a more peaceful rhythm. Yet Lass couldn't help but stay beside him.

_'Another nightmare he says... Then these brutal fights was a regular thing for him..'_ The silverette witnessed the deep claw marks everywhere on the white skin, slowly closing itself.

* * *

><p>"You're crazy." Melt skipped, calling back at the thief. He came back to the world after reminiscing that dreadful night, remembering how weird it was that Jin slept like a log through that event. "Stuff like touching others, you should do it with a woman."<p>

"Why? You seem pretty happy after being touched by me..." He froze, feeling a shiver running down his spine.

"That sounds wrong, dude. Very wro-" The blue haired suddenly took a fighting stance. Lass had felt it as well, flipping out his daggers. They had not noticed that they had walked close to the edge of the Ruins of the Silver Knights, feeling the blood locusts buzzing towards them and the fire crawlers approaching them. "What great timing.."

"We've been here last time.. I never knew their numbers could grow to this much!" Slowly appearing behind the woods, the crimson creatures hissed fiercely, surrounding the two males. Still keeping their guard up, they watched the movements of the monsters. _'This... Doesn't look like they're going to attack us.. Like.. They're worshiping us..?'_

Losing patience, the thief finally charged towards them, brutally slashing his daggers through the flesh of the locusts, his mana increasing fast. Behind him, the half beast had used his own bare hands as weapons, giving multiple scratches across each enemies. He had a different air when he fought compared to when he is in his cheerful side. The words 'Dangerous Predator' was on his face, as he bared out his teeth. "Fireball!"

A large mass of fire suddenly shot out of the half beast's mouth, burning everything in it's path. The fire crawlers, even if they were fire attributed, squealed in pain as the flames danced upon their bodies mercilessly. The blood locusts had stayed clear of the huge ball of fire, but was then destroyed by the barrages of strikes from the thief above. "Final Strike!"

The scene had been cleared of monsters. The both stood leaning on to each other, exhausted and breathing heavily.

"You.. You're so familiar to me as well..."

"Why?"

The thief took in a deep breath, bracing himself for the worse as he let the words out. "You know that fireball... you made?" He felt the other nodding his head before he continued. "With your weird ears and tails... You pretty much reminded me of my dog.."

"WHAT?" The half beast jolted away, letting the thief fall on to the ground. But reflexes built into the thief had made this avoidable as he twisted his body quickly and regained balance. He growled, pouncing the silverette playfully, going into a fierce play fight. "I've gotten enough abuse from that stygian, and now from you.."

They laughed.

* * *

><p>"New data have been acquired. Will overwrite over old data..." From afar, the rune caster fixed her glasses. She shut close her book, satisfied with her observation. "This specimen called Melt, is very interesting..."<p>

"And I see you've been having fun in quite a while, Mari." The stygian stalked towards the blue haired girl, she who remained emotionless. "Well, mortal.. Anything new from the lousy dog..?"

"Hmm..." Unexpectedly, Mari hummed. She was actually showing her pleased expression. "Such information will be told when there is approval from Master Ronan." She strode away, letting her hair flicker in front of the demon. Dio was not pissed, he was actually confused at the fact that she was giving him a small grin.

"That mortal.. Is far more scarier than Void..."

"Thank you, Master Dio." She called out, walking away from where the town is, towards the Ruins of the Silver Knight.

* * *

><p>The worn out teen dragged her feet on to the bed. She was worn out from the miles of walking and then being dragged by the elven bowman to go to the market to restock their supplies. Letting herself land on the bed in front of her, she moaned, pleased. Finally, there was no more duties to fulfill and she could just let herself indulge into the soft, comfortable bed.<p>

"My my, you're brave, Arme." That voice seeped into her ears as she jerked away from the bed. She had been too tired to notice that it was occupied by someone, and it was none other than the busty demon herself. _'Of all the people, why her bed? And why did my face land on her... GAAAAAH?'_

"S-sorry Ley... Didn't see you there..." Still backing away, the purple haired made her way on to another bed, just next to Ley's. But she stopped halfway when she say the demon had held her by her shoulder.

"Come with me.."

Ley didn't sound like the usual, seductive demon she was. More serious. Arme nodded, understanding that this was for a purpose and followed her, no matter how groggy she felt.

* * *

><p>They entered the next room, the guys' room of the Inn that they were staying in. The ones present held a serious expression, much like Ley. But not all the Grand Chase members were in; Elesis, Lass, Amy, Jin and Ryan were missing. Melt wasn't there either, but he was not part of the Chase in the first place. The mage knew that the half beast would be accompanied by the thief somewhere in town, and she was still finding that irritating.<p>

"Ley. Why did you bring her in?" Dio glared at the two whom had just entered. He was obviously displeased that Arme was with her.

"I don't take orders from a weakling like you." Ley spat out her tongue. She disliked the other demon whom tried to rule over her. They were both sadists and loved being the dominating one, so their personalities clashed easily. As the stygian continued to stare, pretending to shoot daggers all over her face, Ley cross her arms. "Sides, Arme's worried over her poor lil' Lassy. So she has all rights to be here with us."

"That makes sense." Seighart sided with the summoner, attracting unwanted attention from the stygian. The mage, however, had only blushed when Ley had stated _'her poor lil' Lassy'_. It felt good to hear that Lass was hers, but quite embarrassing when said in front of everyone. _'What am I thinking..? Lass isn't mine.. He's not a thing... But.. It'll be nice if he was... Oh Arme! Stop this silly thoughts!'_

"Fine with me. So long as she can keep quiet about this." The spell knight had interrupted the mage's internal warfare, gaining everyone's attention. "Mari. Update us with the new information."

"Yes, Master Ronan." The mage had leaned on to the wall next to the door, locked and rested on by the summoner. She was pretty much curious to why not all the Grand Chase members were in this meeting and what is the information updated to be told. Why the rest weren't here to listen to it and why was she asked to listen now.

"Regarding subject, Melt. His power levels seems to have risen to a strength that matches Master Ronan and myself when he goes into combat mode. This is also true to his spiritual energy, as it increases drastically. Though, I conclude that Melt has a low endurance level against heavy damages, thus he has built his body to become a fast and agile one, much like Master Lass, to evade most assaults."

"Good. We've got more information to prepare for ourselves against Melt, whenever he weakens and falls into the darkness. Jin, Lire and Ley would be the most capable ones to slow him down with barrages of assaults, arrows and summoned beings. Elesis, Master Seighart, Zero and Dio would be responsible in keeping most of us alive, being the ones who have a high threshold for damages. Amy would be the best to keep aside to heal all of us, so her being alive is important. Then the-"

"This meeting is about Melt?" Arme had questioned, still dumbfounded by this event. Ronan stopped his explanation of his strategy, looking at her puzzled, just like everyone else.

"Ley. You didn't tell her?"

"Why should I? I get to see her face turn funny this way." The summoner laughed as sweatdrops hung over each members in the room. She then stopped to look at them, Dio fairly angry to her. "Oh fine. You go on with your strategy talk, I'll tell her now.."

As everyone turned away from the two to continue to listen to the spell knight, Arme looked pretty much confused, her head spinning with the grogginess she felt from earlier on. Ley took in a deep breath and exhaled heavily. "Yes Arme, this has been a meeting about Melt, him might turning into Kaze'Aze someday..."

"But I thought that was over. Didn't he said that if Kaze'Aze returned, he be weaker? And why isn't everyone in to listen to this?"

"Not a chance, Arme. Most of us don't trust what he had just said. Things like that to be told so easily, something fishy is going on... And not all of us are here well.. Because, who can trust that hot headed knight to not spill something out of her mouth when she goes berserk and that gossip loving idol? The druid and the fighter are keeping watch of them now, and they'll get their share of this info later."

"And Lass?"

"... I thought you might have to tell him. He'd listen to you much better than the rest of us."

"But this will tear him to pieces... I hate to admit this.. But Melt's a good friend of his.." There were pearls collecting right in the mage's eyes, she could feel herself torn apart inside as well. The older woman hugged her tightly.

"Arme, dear... He'll be torn apart much horribly if we don't tell him the harsh reality soon.." She tightened the embrace with the smaller girl. "Your Lassy already went through the darkness that was Kaze'Aze. If he saw another going through the same experience, he'd blame himself."

"... Alright..." The mage stuttered, holding back her tears, trying to give her usual peppy smile. ".. I'll tell him... And we'll make sure Melt won't suffer much.."

_It's all for Lass though..._

* * *

><p>Elesis roared in content. She had stuffed herself as much food as she could that evening. Ryan, next to her, didn't hold back either as he let out a satisfying burp. It had been a while for the two to eat such lavish feast after days of grilled meat or over burnt steaks. They stumbled heartily, side by side, on the empty street of the town. On the other side of the street, they saw a lone man, walking in peace.<p>

"Woah.. He looks.. rugged..?" Ryan whispered, amazed as he peered at the silhouette. The moon wasn't out and the street was barely lit with any lights.

"Un.." The Knight grunted. "But if he was good in fighting as he is good in his clothes, and maybe a good attitude, then I'll acknowledge him.."

"Elesis, lower your standards for Heaven's sake.."

"No way.. You've seen that old man..." The girl scowled, remembering how foolish her great grandfather acts. "I'd like to have a new member with a higher status than him..."

As Elesis ranted, the druid noticed something different about the man, as they passed each other. There wasn't anything recognizable about him, he had his head held down, hands pocketed, wanting no attention what so ever. But the scent he carried was what he had smelled before.

_Lass...? No.._

"Rufus..." Ryan stood, looking at the figure. Elesis continued to walk on, not hearing what the druid had said. The silhouette did not waver, walking further away from the two.

"Ryan.. Want me to leave you?.. Something wrong?" The knight patted his back, questioning his worries. He just shook his head.

"No.. I was imagining things, I guess.. All this food may have gotten into my head..."

Little did they know that the silhouette paused to look back to the two walking away from him. A grin appeared on his face.

_'That brat is definitely here.'_

* * *

><p>The stars weren't out that night. Melt kept his head up to watch the dark sky, feeling sentimental towards it. He had spent the whole day avoiding the town, and the thief's petting. Lying down on the base of the tree, just under the branch where the thief had sat, stargazing at the nothingness of the sky.<p>

"We should return.. Arme might get angry.." The ears of the half beast perked up upon hearing the girl's name, noticeable to the thief. He stuttered a low agreement before putting on his hood. The thief jumped down, landing safely on his feet, feeling some what superior to the half beast. "What? Scared of a _girl_?"

"No!.. I.." The older man avoided eye contact from the silverette. Clearly, he was hiding something that had to do with Arme from the silverette.

"Want me to pull your tails in the opposite directions?" The thief grabbed hold of the crimson tipped white fluffs under the cloak, forcing the answer out of the half beast. He whimpered, shaking his head furiously, not wanting such harsh treatment.

"I.. I kind of... To Arme.. I.." Melt stopped stuttering, immediately entering his combat mode, having felt an uneasy air. The thief saw this, releasing his tails and preparing himself for battle as well. Not knowing what lurked in the darkness, yet he felt a stronger presence going towards them.

"There you are~!" The familiar voice of Jin called out, showing up in front of them. Following him was the star, Amy. "Mari said you guys would be hanging out here. We came to pick you guys up on the way back to the Inn... And yeah, the crowd's gone so there won't be anyone bothering all of us." Jin added, remembering why the two had separated from the rest of the traveling troop.

The two nodded in reply, following them towards the town. Melt flanked the thief, still feeling uneasy. "Thief.. Something's just not right.."

He grunted in agreement. The silverette had felt a familiar, stronger presence ever since the half beast flinched earlier. Trying to remember where he had felt such aura, he kept his guard up. Jin in front, realized their uneasiness, tightened his fists. All in mutual agreement something was definitely different. All except the clueless Amy, still feeling giddy after meeting her fans.

"There you are, Melt..." A hollow voice reached out to them, the silhouette stood in front of them on the stoned path that leads to town. The group stiffen, Amy suddenly pulling out her chakrani and going into her battle stance. "And you have such cute friends around you.."

"You..." The half beast growled, recognizing the figure of the silhouette, the eerie voice that seeped out from it.

"T-That's Rufus?" Jin yowled, he had started shivering. But in excitement as the fighter smiled, eager to use his fists into action. "I can sense that he's strong..."

"Hmph.. Mele combat against a long ranged opponent. How funny.." There was an evil smirk on the silhouette, his crimson eyes shined. "But I'm not here to battle. I just what's mine there.. Melt.. Or should I even call you that.."

"SHUT UP, DEMON!" Charging without warning, Melt clawed the brunette. In reaction, he unsheathed his guns that had lay rest in his pockets, using them as a prevention of those sharp nails from reaching his skin. The brunette threw off the barraging beast, taking aim and shooting him, though failed to land a hit as the beast was too quick and evaded all shots.

"LAY OFF HIM!" Lass dived in, his daggers thrusting towards the brunette. In turn, Rufus jumped above him, pushing him towards the ground, head first. The crimson eyes was set at only at the emerald, continuing to aim and shoot simultaneously at his vital points.

Jin charged his burning soul, dashing towards them to commit Hanuman. The brunette foresaw such, quickly rolled away from his direction the moment the fighter launched his feet into the air, making the fighter fall on to his bottom hard. Regaining his balance, he directed his gun towards Amy. But thinking twice, he went back to his original target. The girl, annoyed that she wasn't taken seriously, rushed towards him, chakrani ready to slam at his face. "Don't underestimate me! I am Amy!"

However, she didn't get the chance to land a hit as the thief had pushed down the gunslinger. Irritated, the brunette slammed his foot on the gut of the silverette, releasing himself out of the grasp of the thief. Melt roared as he pounced towards the brunette, ready to sink in his teeth to his pale skin. Yet he smiled. "EMPOWER"

A concentrated blast flew straight towards the half beast, creating a surge of pain flowing everywhere in the white body. He screamed in agony, much to the brunette's glee. As he was on his side, trying withstand the blow, the brunette had stomped his head to the ground mercilessly. Yowls of pain called out, until there was nothing but silence that lulled over. He lay still, unmoving except his fast paced breathings. The brunette picked up the half beast by its tail, dragging him away from the group.

"D-damn..." Amy stared, shaken in fear. The male had just shot the other with a powerful blast, and after that, he didn't even dare to stop, continued to torment the half beast. "You were Melt's friend! How can you just do that to him?"

"Friend..? This thing..?" Rufus paused, looking back at the girl. His glare sent frightening shivers to the dancer, yet she felt something different as well. "This can't even be considered as human, girl." The crimson eyes then shot a stare at the thief, he who had coughed up a pool of blood. "Sides, I'm just showing that what is yours, is mine as well, dear sweet brother~"

The half demon laughed psychopathically, dragging the beast with him, leaving the three blankly staring at the disappearing silhouette.

_B.. Brother..?_

* * *

><p><strong>I wrote this while I'm sick. So something's definitely off in this story... -sweatdrop-<br>But I'm happy reading the reviews. So that's making my day, even when I'm sick.. heheh.**  
><strong>Well.. Rufus took his pet back.. so.. uh.. -sneeze-<br>**


	9. Chapter 9

**First things first...**  
><strong>I just noticed that I skipped a chapter. To be exact, Chapter 4. To be extremely exact, it was a Lass &amp; Arme scene...<strong>  
><strong>Yeah.. I'll still put it up..<strong>  
><strong>You guys can read it, or just continue on. Seriously, it doesn't effect the story plot, but..<br>**I don't want to be heartless and skip the love! D:****

****On to the story~!**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>A groan came from the white being, feeling nothing but the heavy grogginess that hovered on his head. He forced himself to sit up, only to find himself chained down by his neck, wrists and ankle. A brunette approached him, staring down at the lying creature.<p>

"Let me go.." He growled in anger, glaring back at the darkened crimson eyes. They were filled with rage that lurked soundly at the back, yet there was sorrow that silently stood in the midst. Giving back a terse grunt, he aimed his eyeteeth on to the forehead.

"I'll just take back what is mine, you know."

* * *

><p>"It's horrible.. How can he just.." The shaken dancer was still in shock, after witnessing such a traumatic event. The fighter, sitting next to her, brought her closer to him, letting her head nestle comfortably on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. His voice was soothingly cool with the purpose to calm the nerve wrecked girl down.<p>

"You don't have to continue, Amy..." When he felt the deity nod her head slowly as she tried to control her shivering, he looked up, meeting another pair of crimson eyes. "After _that_" Jin continued, avoiding the topic of merciless beatings, "He just left. Dragging Melt with him. Lass was badly struck at a vital point and Amy's pretty traumatized. I had no choice but to retreat.."

"That was a better option. We can't lose two of our best members." Though she said so, Elesis had considered everyone of the Grand Chase the best members. She turned to see the rest of the members, all whom had gathered to the Inn's lobby but Lass, Arme and Ryan, waiting for their orders from the girl they've seen as a leader since the beginning of Grand Chase. "Lire, Zero and Ley. You three are the best trackers out of all of us and can 'sense' things easier. You can leave immediately to find any trails of Rufus. Once you do, report back. I don't want to find any of you returning with fatal injuries."

The wanderer immediately nodded, dragging Grandark out and leaving his markings. Ley gave a curt yes before she floated after him. The female elf, however, stayed behind. "Elesis.. I'll bring Ryan with me. He doesn't seem well.."

Elesis gave the elf a nod of approval as she rushed out to find the druid. Ryan wasn't himself ever since the party of three returned, colors drained from their faces. Being the type who couldn't understand such trivial matters, the least she could do was to let others do their thing to resolve the matter. The knight let out a sigh before she looked at the rest of the remaining Grand Chase members.

"Alright. You guys know anything else..?" Ronan nodded along with Mari and Dio. Seighart, on the other hand, ignored his descendant, and despite being used to it, she hated it. But the immortal wasn't in his usual naps, he was staring off into space, his thoughts were occupied by something that was bothering him for quite some time.

Jin swallowed his fear, staring at the knight, "Elesis.. Before that.. There's also something else about Rufus... That shocked us the most.."

* * *

><p>The druid leaned at the tree, just at the back of the Inn, staring into thin air. His fist clenched tightly on his side, deeply slamming on to the bark behind him. Inside, his chest burned in angst, the regretful sorrow filling his eyes.<p>

"Hey.. You alright?" A blond elf skipped towards him, hands behind her. For a brief moment, the orange eyes met green, before he turned away, feeling flustered. Ryan had only grunted to the bowman. Though he knew Lire was a persistent woman, expecting a more pleasant answer, he sat down, inviting her to sit with him.

"It's all my fault." Wearing a mournful expression, his eyes darkened, staring hard to ground, ashamed to meet the green eyes. "I scented Rufus when Elesis and I were on our way back to the Inn. But I called out his name, yeah, but he didn't respond so I thought it was just in my mind.. But... AAAArgh! I should have confronted him... Then Lass and Amy wouldn't hafta suffer..!"

He punched the ground this time, driving his fist deeper with another frustrated yowl coming out from his mouth, unaware that the bowman was feeling uncomfortable in such situation. But she thought quickly, calling out his name in her usual, lovely tone of hers, calming him down.

"Ryan.. It's not your fault, alright, and you know that.." The blond elf had grasped his head, bringing it into her embrace, "Ryan. I've known you for a long time, and I know you're much mature than this..."

She held him tightly, hoping that his fury will disappear with her reasoning. When the druid grunted back to her, she let go of the orange head, only to find it had turn scarlet. Lire had not noticed she had pressed him on to her chest, feeling too embarrassed to meet his eyes this time, looking away with her own, flustered face.

"Y..Yeah.. I g-guess you're right..." The druid chuckled, giving back a sheepish grin as he rubbed his neck, feeling better than before. The bowman smiled back, knowing her friend had returned back to normal but his still red face.

She gave him a willful smile. "Let's go. We're going to track Rufus down."

* * *

><p>Arme watched the sleeping teen, comfortably snuggled in the bed. His face was paler than usual, she reminded herself that he had lost quite an amount of blood last night. She rested her head on to the bed, seeing his face up close. She had not notice how long his eyelashes were, how pink his lips were. She would have mistaken Lass as a beautiful woman, if not for his masculine built. But it was his shy smile that she loved seeing the most from the thief. Unlike the one she saw last night.<p>

She remembered the sight so clearly. Staggering at the entrance, Jin had carried the fainted maiden, bridal style, Lass barely awake, leaning on to him, with a face that showed total disaster in his eyes. There were blood leaking out of his mouth, and still dripping. He was the first to collapse, being anemic, the fighter followed after, only to his knees as his energy just died as he was consumed in fear.

The mage clutched on to the blanket, on to where his hand were to be. If she was there, she could have casted a healing spell, he wouldn't have felt this much pain. But more importantly, she would be there to support him emotionally, especially when his friend had been brutally mauled and kidnapped. Knowing Lass, he could suffer more from mental corruption compared to physical damage, all because of his ordeal with Kaze'Aze.

"Lass.." She sighed out his name. Only to be surprised when his hand had twitched under her grip.

"I'm here.." The thief still had his eyes shut, but he made the girl perfectly aware that he was conscious. He expected a reply from the mage, recognizing her by her squeaky childish voice.

"Do you feel alright now?" The silverette could feel the mage, head withdrawn from the bed, leaning over him as her breath lolled over.

"Yeah." He curtly replied, it was half the truth. Lass liked having the girl above him, being very near him where he could take a deep sniff of her scent-_Lavenders_, the ones you could find everywhere in the garden just near Serdin Castle. But he wasn't comfortable knowing that Melt was ripped apart from him that easily. Forcing himself to sit up slowly whilst the girl retreated, he lifted his heavy eyelids. That blow from last night still had lingering pains in his gut, but being used to it, his face showed nothing. "Where's my clothes..?"

Realizing the blanket had slipped off, revealing the muscular built of the boy, Arme quickly turned away, towards the pile of unkempt clothes that barely hung at the end of the bed, hoping her scarlet face wasn't so visible to the thief. A hand had reached out to them, much to the mage's relief that her being flustered by peeking at a male's bare body went unnoticed. Though, it was soon enough that he had slipped into them and stood next to her, as if he was never hurt, unless you've overlooked the blood stains.

"I'm going out.." Opening the window, the thief grabbed his weapon, sliding out before the girl could protest. Hurriedly, he had left, Arme noticed he brought with him a darkened expression. What was it that had made him so desperate, he'd ignore even his health? She groaned, feeling regretfully helpless.

"Lass!" Not a second later, a group of shocked people barged into the room, nearly frightening the mage off her chair. The knight scanned the room, before she cursed and turned to the lone girl in the room. "Arme, where's Lass?"

Regaining back her composure, Arme looked outside the open window, blankly staring at the trail he went by. "He just left.."

"That idiot.." Dio grunted. "Knowing _him_, things might get messier.." Arme only gave him a dumbfounded stare.

"Arme.. Lass might go and murder his _possibly last living_ relative."

* * *

><p>"Find anything?" None gave with a positive reply. "Did any of you seen Lass..?" Again they shook their heads.<p>

It had been hours since the wild goose chase had started, with no clues to begin with. Zero nudged his sword again, just as Ley did to her gargoyles. Lire and Ryan looked at each other, mirroring the same disappointed face. Rufus didn't make it easy for them at all. His presence just disappeared with the half beast just on the outskirts of town. What's worse was that their so called expert explorer had mysteriously vanished as well, highly unstable.

"What a mess.." The summoner flopped lazily on to the ground, the others watched her groan. "And Master Seighart, you don't seem like yourself either.."

"Huh, what..?" The immortal blinked blankly at them, not noticing that everyone had eyes on him now, making him feel awkward. "Oh.. I was just thinking.."

"So he _does_ think..." Dio taunted. Yet he didn't get back his usual dose of evil glare from the raven haired, making the stygian feel slightly awkward now.

"You tykes remembered what I said 'bout that lil tranny on the boat that night?" Dio nudged the immortal by his  
>elbow when he referred Melt as 'lil tranny', hard. He nearly fell to his side, but with the help of his Gladius, he kept his balance. The rest of the members, not knowing the full situation, stared at them bewildered. The stygian, the wanderer and the gladiator exchanged looks at each other, they, and the missing thief, were still the only ones who knew Melt's downside of his third mana skill. And calling him a tranny - short for transvertive - might give the rest a clue about the half beast's problem.<p>

"What this _idiot_ meant was if you all remembered what he said about the lousy dog." The stygian corrected him immediately, avoiding the fact some of the Grand Chase members were asking about who this tranny was.

"Master Seighart went something like _'So the Queen's coming back, huh?'_" Amy tried to mimic the gladiator as much as she could, making a pouting face and having her hands behind her head. It was a good sign to them all, that their deity had recovered quickly, and returned to her peppy self. Though Seighart only gave her a meer seven out of ten for trying to be as great as he was.

"I believe he said _'So the return of the Queen is possible, huh? This kid will wage war against humans, kill thousands, have many strong monsters under her wrath, and might kill us like she did with the Kanavan Trackers all over again... Sigh.. This is not how I wanted to spend my immortality..'_" Mari read out from her grimoire, much to everyone's astonishment. They had never realized she would be _that_ diligent to write down every single word. The dancer nodded and went back to her 'Arrogant and Lazy Seighart' pose, repeating the words of the rune caster, getting some decent laughs from the rest, especially the relieved Jin.

"What about it, Master Seighart?" The immortal then stared at the rune caster, ordering her to read Melt's reply, if she wrote it down. Lucky for him, Mari nodded and began reading out the text unemotionally.

"_'I won't worry if I were you guys. I mean, you were the ones who killed Kaze'Aze last time, I'm sure you can do it again before she send you all into a rip.'_" There was a silence that lulled over them, each member tried to process such to their minds, all except the ever knowing Mari, the strangely concerned Seighart and the expressionless Zero.

"And here I thought Little Red would be smart enough to figure it out." The immortal teased his descendant as she unsheathed her sword. But the much more mature Ronan halted her, making her sigh heavily to release her anger towards her own ancestor. Seighart only let out a satisfied huff.

"Alright. I clearly mentioned that Kaze'Aze's return _'might kill us like she did with the Kanavan Trackers'_. Correct?" When there was a murmur of agreement and a few nods, though Elesis remained silent, remembering that her father was one of the Kanavan Trackers that was long gone. The immortal noticed such, wanting to pat her head so she'd feel better, but instead he supressed those emotions to continue his irregularly long speech, "But that kid replied that we were the ones who killed Kaze'Aze last time, and he was sure that we could do it again _'before she sends us all into a rip.'_"

"That's weird.." Ronan caught on fast, expected by the immortal, "Only we, the Grand Chase, were present at the time Kaze'Aze told us about her throwing the Kanavan Trakers into the dimensional rip. Yet even when you said they were killed, Melt corrected the truth without us concerning..."

"And earlier on. We faced that huge hoard of monsters back in Bermesiah. They were monsters from Kerrie Beach, Orc Temple, Gorgos Dungeon, Elven Forest and Gaikoz's Castle. And what do they have in common?"

"Kaze'Aze's Generals came from there!" Arme perked up, fingers in front of her to help her mental calculations. "But why would they-"

"Twenty hours ago, I witnessed creatures that resided in the Ruins of the Silver Knights, surround subject Melt as if worshiping him." Mari interrupted, flicking her glasses into place without noticing that she had irritated Arme, "When I had left Master Dio to investigate such activities, I had succeeded in gaining the information from the creatures that _'The Queen has Risen'_."

"... You don't mean.."

"Yeap." The obsidian eyes of the immortal darkened as he gripped his Gladius tightly. "Kaze'Aze had already taken over Melt."

* * *

><p>"Flash Claw Combo!"<p>

That familiar voice roared from afar and Lass had pinpointed it to the land near to Victor's Catle. He was ecstatic that following his instincts had lead him to the right path, though at most times, he was very unsure of where to go. But why Victor's Castle..?

Nearing the abandoned castle, he heard screams of agony, not knowing whether they belonged to Melt, or that bloody Rufus. His grip on his daggers tightened, remembering the last words that the Bounty Hunter had told him.

_'I'm just showing that what is yours, is mine as well, dear sweet brother~'_

_'Brother'_. It was that particular word coming out of that demon that he despised the most. How dare he, call himself his brother, when he does such brutal treatments to his own friend. Even regarding Melt as an item. Lass hurried to the castle, wanting to save his dear comrade in arms as quickly as possible.

Though, in the castle, there was not a trace of living thing that wandered, if excluding the yowls of pains. Where was the Black Knights that guarded these corrupted walls? He ignored that fact and continued to go deeper. Every so often, he could hear the certain voice of the bounty hunter, spelling out one of his techniques. The thief would pray that Melt would survive it, only to be reassured by the later screams, showing he was still fighting on. But he grew worried that the half beast would be growing weaker.

"Bullet Time!" The voice called out from a different passageway, the one he did not recognize very well. Entering the hollow hall, his footsteps echoed all around, making goosebumps grow all over him. Yet Lass pushed on, his assassin trainings was far more wicked than this. It was not until he saw another room linked to the corridor that shocked him.

It was empty but a small bed that lied in the midst, fitting for a child of seven, maybe younger. There was a tiny table that stood next to it, holding a silver platter decked with surgical equipments. And the whole room, those items included, were coated with dry red stains. The thief took in the whole sight into him.

_'This is the room Melt woke up from...'_

Melt's second technique was yelled out, waking the thief from his trance. Now isn't the time to think about this, he thought, continuing the path that the hallway lead. Lass began to run in his most highest speed, despite having not fully recovered from last night's battle and a new problem. Hunger.

The end of the hallway was an open room, he could make out the two powers ruthlessly fighting each other from afar. But a upon approaching the room, his thoughts began to falter, seeing skeletons on the ground, all cloaked in leather, with a distinctive crest that spelled Kaze'aze. They were the men who tried to bring Kaze'Aze to this world. Though, coming closer, he realized the balance of the battle between the half breeds, his mind shattered.

Rufus was losing to a beast that was shrouded in darkness. One he recognized so well, it haunted him in his nightmares. The being he hated with all his life.

Kaze'Aze

"Y-you!" Rufus took notice in the boy who had entered the battlefield, paralyzed at the spot. The white being smirked, taking advantage at the small opening and shooting out his fireball from his mouth. It hit the bounty hunter, much to his please, seeing him get thrown into the wall, not moving anymore. He then turned, emerald eyes meeting sapphire eyes.

"Lass... I was waiting for you.." A delighted tone seeped out between the fangs, this person he once knew as Melt, had a twisted smile. It brought back memories of the past of the thief, how Kaze'Aze approached him, how he foolishly followed his words, then freedom being stripped off of him and falling into the abyss of darkness. The thief, traumatized, backed away. This, in turn, irritated the dark being. "Lass? Why are you going away? You were supposed to save me from this darkness..."

"M-Melt..?" His name shyly seeped out. How he wanted to believe those words came from the half beast he befriended in the last few days. But even so, his distrust with Kaze'Aze kept him from falling to those words, keeping his guard up. Lass dared not to fall into Kaze'Aze's wrath. Ever. "Are you really Melt..?"

"Yes, Lass. It's _me_.. Melt."

"Don't believe him!" Rufus, cried out, weakly pointing his gun to the half beast, only to get his arm shot by kunei knives. He yowled in pain, getting a chuckle from the half beast.

"And _why_ should _I_ believe in the man who treated my friends like trash?"

Lass stalked the brunette, careful to keep a safe distance from the shadow coated Melt. The sapphire eyes glared at the ruby eyes, there was not even a presence of happiness in them. Yet, the brunette dared to answer. "Because, we are brothers."

The thief thrusted the knife.

* * *

><p>"This was once a cult that worshiped the darkness long ago. They aimed to corrupt a god with darkness so mortals could control the gods." Amy looked around, remembering her past when Silver Land was still part of Xenia. "But they're activities died so suddenly years ago, that no one bothered about them."<p>

"No wonder Victor knew about the Darkness and served for him.. His castle is standing right above their altar." Jin tapped his chin, placing the puzzle pieces together.

"This isn't the time to think about that! Someone's going to die, you know!" Elesis yelled back, entering the most suspicious passageway, being the only hall that they did not explore before.

A scream of terror echoed from deep with in the hall. And they knew it was to foreign to belong to Lass. Ryan hissed "It's either Rufus' or Melt's... Life.."

"Lass, don't!" Arme rammed through the group, being the first to enter the room, bracing herself to see the worst.

"Arme..?" The thief turned, unexpected to the girl to show up so suddenly. In his hand, was a bloody kunei knife, and a pale corpse.

* * *

><p><strong>Buhahaha~ I am so DEAD x-x"<strong>

**Btw,**  
><strong>Melt's 1st skill - Flash Claw Combo - Does a barrage of claw based assaults. Specifically used on mobs<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Honestly, I didn't expect myself to be really hooked onto this story. But I'm so happy to reach Chapter 10 ^^**  
><strong>One thing's for sure, the fact that people read this is one of the reasons I'm enjoying updating this story.<strong>  
><strong>Thank you! XD<strong>

* * *

><p>"Lass.. You've.."<p>

"You killed him.."

The room was enlightened with light that shone from the hole in the ceiling. The floor was collected with robes and skeletal figures. A broken altar stood at the back, with a smashed up table. And in the midst of the room, was a blood coated standoffish Lass, holding a knife with streaks of crimson, a lying body in front of him.

It was the white body of Melt, dilated emerald eyes that showed no living traits.

"You killed Melt.." Arme whispered, keeping her gaze locked with sapphire. She hesitated when he flickered off the blood from the knife, still shaken at the sight that he killed Melt. That he killed a friend he was so close to in the past few days. She knew she disliked the blue haired male, being so close to the thief. But she never meant to wish his death. Never. Though, she clearly remembered the deduction they had made earlier on.

_'Kaze'Aze had already taken over Melt.'_

And how long had it been? Possibly since the hooded man arrived in the Serdin Castle, having information on the Bounty Hunter that they were inquiring about. Kaze'Aze must have had played them all this time, wanting to destroy them easily on Elia - Her turf, where her abandoned castle stood darkly above them, where her troops rampaged everywhere, where her darkness continued to spread like wild fire. And being on bad terms with Rufus, she must have wanted him to die along with the Grand Chase, seeing that all threats were to be eliminated.

"Correction. He killed Kaze'Aze."

All eyes turned to the the Bounty Hunter, he who forced himself to sit against the wall and breathing heavily, taking out a knife that had thrusted deep in his left arm. The brunette was minding his own business, ripping off a cloth from the lying unused robe to cover up his wound. Unbelievably, Lass approached the bounty hunter, instead of his comrades. Leaning on to the wall, just next to the brunette, and sliding down where he sat comfortable next to him.

"Didn't mean to shoot it so deeply."

"_Right_," sarcastically, Rufus replied, "I could tell you were _more_ than satisfied to hit me.."

"So you're a mind reader now?"

"No. I'm your brother. I'd know."

"Shut that crap.."

To see the silverette alongside the brunette was a major surprise to the rest of the people who stood dumbfounded in the entrance of the room. The sapphire eyes had turned to the amethyst that stood with the group. "Arme, can you heal us? I'm still not feeling great and this guy's taken up too much damage."

"Uh.. S-sure..." Avoiding the freshly deceased one, the mage reluctantly approached them, still feeling hesitant to the situation that they were in. Yet she stopped when a hand reached out to her shoulder, one that belonged to Elesis. The red headed knight glared at the two males, desiring something from them before she'd let Arme cast a healing spell on the two. When neither of them gave word, Elesis barked out her demands.

"What the heck happened?"

The brunette sighed. He shot a stare at the knight, making her flinch. "Heal first."

"Not happening. I want answers first..."

"Then I die." Rufus glanced away, already facing it hard to grip on to consciousness as his breathings continued to increase rapidly. He was exhausted enough, letting his eyes close into the darkness.

* * *

><p>When light finally shone upon him, he was still saw the same sky from earlier on. "Damn it! I thought you really died!"<p>

The yowl came from the same red head that tried to argue with earlier as well. She was cross armed, yet her face showed that she had submitted herself to agitation. He found himself lying on the most emptiness spot of the floor, just next to the broken table. In between him and it, was the creature his brother killed, but his knife wound had disappeared from his chest. _'Strange..._ _It must have healed itself...'_

The brunette then locked eyes with the familiar sapphire eyes of the silverette. "I was out?"

"For at least half an hour." A casual reply. He sounded better than before as he assumed that the thief had been properly aided than himself.

"Now to explain all this crap, kid~" Seighart smiled at him, leaning on to his Gladius that he was prepared to use at the right time. He wasn't one to trust the male so easily like the silverette. "Other than the fact you are Rufus Wild, a Bounty hunter that took in Melt as a pet and claims Lassy there is your brother."

"Most of which is correct." An amused snort came from Rufus, yet his eyes darkened when he continued on. "Melt really was my pet... Until he discovered that he could use Kaze'Aze's powers."

* * *

><p><em>Rufus's flashback.<br>Rufus' POV._

"Rafas." He called out a name. It wasn't mine. But he meant it to be mine. I scuffled that light blue hair of his as he whined in protest, correcting him.

"It's Rufus. RUuu~FUuu~s."

"Rafas~" He looked up to at me innocently, still repeating the same mistake. It has been like this the moment I picked him up from that bloody temple. I sighed at the fact that I didn't succeed in gathering the blue flames that was used to bring the Queen of Darkness into this world as they had just disappeared. But I was glad to save him from her wrath. That was what mattered the most.

That was what I thought.

"Rafas. Someone teach Melt new things." He pulled on to my shirt, craving attention so badly, yet he showed no sign of it from his face. And it amused me that he couldn't speak his English so fluently, though I was mostly at fault since I, myself, didn't speak much. It was also adorable that he didn't use the terms 'I', 'my', 'me' and 'mine' and referring to himself as 'Melt', like a third person. I gave in to the child, kneeling down in front of him and letting him tell me face to face. "Melt can use dark powers."

"Dark powers?" I questioned. Remembering back, I did no such thing as teaching him to do anything dangerous, let alone to fight. I couldn't recall seeing him interact with anyone else but me either. He was too shy with others and stuck close to me like glue, hiding behind me like his tails hid in between his own legs. "Melt, who taught you how to use dark powers?"

"Melt see pretty girl," bluntly he answered, his head tilted cutely to a side, letting his ears flopped lazily with it. I nudged him to describe the who this 'pretty girl' was, feeling tense at that fact. "She's short. Have.. purple hair. Eyes red like Rafas also. She smells scary. But funny."

Short, but had purple hair and red eyes? Had a fearful scent? This was a person would've been someone far too dangerous then. It could be a demon, but then I would have sense his or her being near Melt.

"Did she say her name?" Melt shook her head immediately.

"She say Melt knows already. Also if Melt say it, she helps Melt." I thought of it for a while. It seemed way too suspicious. Much like-

It was Kaze'Aze. No doubt in that. But her being short? It must be the remnants of her darkness that lingered in him. Some of the blue flames must have been successfully used to contain the slightest of her powers in the little boy. I took in a deep breath, wrapping my arms around him. He nuzzled on to my neck quite perfectly.

"You don't need her help Melt. I'll always here for you."

"Okay, Rafas~"

* * *

><p>"D-damn.." I was caught off guard, getting hit by another Garou from behind. Melt was safely hidden behind the walls, I made sure of that whilst I destroy these monsters. I was hoping to find some hints from the Relics of Kounat that could help me seal away the darkness that was Kaze'Aze from taking over Melt.<p>

"R-Rafas..." I heard the boy whimper in fear, hating the fact I'm getting hurt. I growled back at him, forcing him to stay put as I shot up into the sky, using one of my techniques; Bullet Rain.

He winced in fear to the blasting bullets, they brought these Garous down so easily though. When there was nothing else around, I looked at the scared little boy. Melt stared back, but he wasn't frightened enough to run into me, holding me by the waist tightly. That was how high he could reach. "Rafas.."

"See. I'm strong enough to protect you, Melt." I patted the blue hair, leading him deeper in the dungeon. So far nothing I see was useful. They were too distorted and oddly enough, I could see that there were traces of huge tracks around, as if they were made in these recent years. Thankfully, not the time we were currently here.*

"R-Rafas..." I could feel Melt's ears twitching against me, he was always like this whenever he could feel another unknown presence approaching. Frankly, it was useful as I reached my eyeteeth. I commanded the boy to find a safe place to hide and he obediently nodded, running behind a large slab where I could monitor him perfectly. And like magic, more Garous surrounded me.

Like the usual, I went head on with close ranged combats, waiting for my Ability Power to charge up. When it had enough, I'd use Rake or such, trying to weaken as much enemies as I can so I could easily sweep them away. And then-

"S-Shi...!" There were more Garous than earlier, and I can't keep up.

"Rafas!" Melt screamed, I could see his ears perked up, feeling horrid to watch me getting beaten up.

"Stay back, Melt!" I warned him, noticing the fact he had dug his nails on to the stone slab. But that very moment, he dared not to obey my commands. Rushing towards me and avoiding each assaults. He stood in front of me, hissing at the incoming Garous. To me, this was surprisingly adorable to watch as a young child desperately tries to play hero and protect me. But that wasn't the time to think so as I grabbed the boy by his waist and pulled him closer to me, pointing my eyeteeth upwards.

"Make it Rain."

Dark clouds gathered above us as amethyst bullets rained down on to the enemies heavily. I heard them cry in pain, but the Melt's shivering were my most concerns. He was a pacifist at heart, didn't even dare to touch any of my weapons. Being in the midst of a battle was already something that took away a few years of life away from him. I tightened my clutch around him, letting him find solace from me alone.

But it didn't end there. The Garous were still alive even from after I had used Make it Rain. It took a lot of Ability Power from me, and being in the middle of a group of blood lusting monsters and Melt to protect, I was in a crisis. Panicked, I glanced every where to seek something, _anything_ that could have been to my advantage.

"Melt help Rafas.."

I looked back to the half beast, his emerald eyes were strangely dilated, darkened. Something I have never seen before coming from Melt. The boy hugged me back, by my head, as if to protect me. His shaken self was no more as he spoke with a dangerously low tone.

"I am Melt Regina Tenebrae. How _dare_ you raise your claws against me... Regina Tenebrae's Wrath!"

* * *

><p>It's been days since Melt used the dark powers, and he hasn't woken up since. Well, to be exact, <em>she<em> hasn't woken up since. Melt's turned into a girl the moment she used that technique, wiping out every single monster opposing us as well as the simple clothes I had given before. Which puts me in an unbearable situation.

There's a cute little girl who's sleeping innocently on my lap.

I sighed painfully, looking down at the being, coated with only my jacket. Thankfully, I had enough sanity to keep my hands to myself, and the jacket was long enough to cover her body up to her knees. Though, I sighed again.

Regina Tenebrae. It meant Queen of Darkness.

I gulped, my fingers traced on to her jaw line towards her hair. Melt had called out Kaze'Aze's name in order to protect me. I closed my eyes, hands clenched tightly together.

"Melt.. Please don't get consumed by her.."

"I'm not consumed by anyone.." I was surprised to hear a whisper back to me as I look down. The emerald eyes was staring back at me, blankly like they usually do. "Rufus~"

"Hey, you actually said my name correctly." I couldn't help but chuckle, feeling a burden had been lifted off my back.

"Yeap~" Melt smiled as she sat up quickly. She began undoing the buttons of the jacket. "This thing is too stuffy for me, though.."

"W-wait! M-Melt!" I panicked. I didn't need Melt to go undress so urgently. Especially when-

It was a male's body. Melt had turned back into the original Melt.

"Nee, Rufus" He nudged me by my shoulder. "Where's my old clothes? I liked them more."

"Ahh..." I put back the jacket on to the boy, much to his discomfort. "You'll have to wear this for now, alright. Then we'll go find some."

He yelp in excitement as I stared bewildered to the boy. Everything that had just happened was a little to hard for me to take in. First of all, where did the broken English go? Melt was actually speaking so fluently. And he didn't speak in thrid person any more. How did his body revert to normal? Why did it change when he used that technique initially?

Why is he calling me Rufus now?

* * *

><p><em><span>Back to Third person POV<span>_

"It wasn't long until I realized Kaze'Aze took over Melt the moment he had said his full name. I cornered Kaze'Aze, tried to rip her out of Melt. But she deceived me by acting as Melt and threw me off guard. In the end, I lost track of Kaze'Aze..." Rufus sighed, gazing down at the blue haired, his head now lying on his lap just like how he used to let the male sleep before. He saw that Melt had grown much larger compared to before, being the same height with his own.

"You did all those bad things to Melt- To Kaze'Aze that night.." Amy stuttered behind Jin, wanting to be sure about that experience. The brunette nodded, explaining that Kaze'Aze wouldn't just faint to a mere gun shot and he didn't know any other way to knock the Queen out.

"So that is the reason Master Seighart had called subject Melt a _'tranny'_, earlier on." Mari thought out loud, giving the immortal unwanted attention. Though he whistled, glancing away. Elesis looked at her like her usual blank self, so the rune caster fixed her glasses and explained. "I believe the word tranny that Master Seighart used was a shorter version of the word transvestite."

"That's why you assaulted Melt that night on the boat! YOU DAMNED OLD PERVERT!" Elesis, outraged with her sword tightly in her grasp, went berserk on her ancestor, making him run for his life in the room as he dodged her blows. The older man tried to reason with her, but Zero had accidentally (or maybe on purpose) slipped out that he was going to show where Melt's sensitive points were on that night, causing the red head to become much more angry than she was. "YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE TO BE PART OF THE SEIGHART HOUSEHOLD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! EVEN IF YOU'RE A LOUSY LEGENDARY HERO! DIEEEEEEEE!"

The scene was just hilarious to the bounty hunter as he laughed, an occasional cough in between had told him he wasn't completely recovered. "This is _the_ Legendary Seighart? How amusing. Though, I'm more curious how you all figured this was Kaze'Aze..."

"Well that," Seighart smiled arrogantly, his hands behind his head as he evaded his descendant's slashes, "All credit belongs to me, thank you very much~ I, the smartass of the group, figured all his doings were just way too suspicious and therefore deducted that he was Kaze'Aze this whole time~" The violet demon forced down the immortal to the ground, much to his delight, where Elesis had a clear path to hit him. Seighart merely rolled, only to evade the powerful blow by an inch, before he started to continue to skip away. Though, there was a murmur of submission to his prideful accusations.

"You all knew..?" Lass looked at them, dumbfounded. Remembering back, they did solve the puzzle whilst he ran off.

"Lass, we got the answer when you foolishly left your poor lil Arme alone in that room." Ley teased the boy, making the him blush. Arme was flustered as well, hearing that she had belonged to the thief. Strange enough, Rufus was blushing at that fact, but he shrugged it off immediately. The pink demon had ulterior motives to say such, interrupting Arme from speaking of the secret meeting that they held, which had no use anymore. "And you?"

"I... The change of heart of Kaze'Aze... The only time she ever did use my name was when she cooed me to join her.. But not this time.. And.." Lass turned to see Rufus, he perked up to locked eyes. "But I still don't trust you.."

The brunette smirked. Setting aside the white being, he stood, only to take out his eyeteeth and set it to Melt's forehead. This caused an uproar amongst the Grand Chase, they didn't expect him to continue to pursue his death after what they had seen what Lass had done to him. Rufus growled, silencing the group. "So how long are you going to pretend to be dead, Kaze'Aze.."

"Hnn... This isn't fun.. I thought you all would buy the fact I was already killed..." They all backed off, hearing words seeping out from the rising dead. Slowly, Melt forced himself up, keeping his evil, twisted grin across his face, the eyeteeth still in pursuit to the blank forehead. He scratched his chest casually, on where Lass had stabbed him, where the wound had disappeared. "I guess can't do a proper sneak attack anymore..."

"He.. Lass killed you! We saw it!"

"That thief _killed_ me? Please.." Melt rolled his eyes, "This body was made by my beloved worshipers specifically for me to _never_ die." A glint of catastrophe just sparked in those emerald eyes as he snapped his fingers. Troops of Black Knights suddenly marched in, surrounding them so suddenly, some of them rose from under the robes, much to their surprise, but Melt.

"When-? I didn't sense them at all!" Ryan shouted, turning at Lire, Ley and Zero. They held the same astonished faces.

"Pheh, they've always been here. They just needed a wake up call."

"You truly are Kaze'Aze..." Lass glared at him, his dagger pointed directly to the chest. Melt was unaffected to such determination to kill him, but the male laughed psychopathically.

"Kaze'Aze is dead. She had _ALWAYS_ been dead!" The murderous aura leaked out from Melt, as he jumped back, landing safely on the broken altar. The Bounty Hunter was going to go after him yet he was interrupted by more Black Knights that gathered themselves in between the two. "I did quite an effort to avoid every mistake that pathetic woman did. Trying to wipe out you all who killed her, and you, bounty hunter, who exist as a threat to my rule. I am much more stronger than her."

"I am the _TRUE_ Queen of Darkness. Melt Regina Tenebrae!"

_'The Queen has risen'_

Those low chantings leaked out from the hoard of knights, their morale rose greatly. Darkness began to coat the half beast, taking the form of a Gothic torn trench coat. And on his head was a small black crown, tilting on one of his ears. His glittering emerald eyes turned to a darker shade of viridian as the aura around him shadowed into black azure. Sparks of the blue flame lingered around and he had a darkened twisted smirk.

Lass couldn't believe it, seeing the figure in front of him.

Melt took in a deep breath. "HELL'S FIRE!"

Fire shot out from his mouth, black flames that burned only in Hell. They engulfed the room, blazing over the Dark Knights and the Grand Chase. Satisfied that he had scorched the room in a blaze, the half beast skipped out through the hole in the ceiling, not forgetting to laugh maniacally as he exited.

"Black Space!" The violet spherical force, made by the amaranthine demon, blasted from the midst of the room, pushing the obsidian flames away and revealing the unharmed Grand Chase, Bounty Hunter and a shield warding Jeeves. But the fire was instead absorbed by the unaffected Dark Knights, increasing their strength and defense. Ley nodded to her trusted butler, his services for now was done, and he vanished with a gentlemanly bow.

"Ah, for the Love of... Why do the bad guys always.. _ALWAYS_ leave us with their henchmen..." Amy whined, her chakrani positioned to assault the Dark Knights.

"It just means that we're annoying the Hell out of them~" Seighart yowled as he charged on to the enemies, triggering them to fight back as he enthusiastically slashed away with his Gladius. He was enjoying this massacre. And this was better than getting murdered by his kin as she had forgotten his wrong doings.

"This is annoying me..." Dio spat, hating the fact he was going to use his powers for this senseless, worthless battle. He stood aside, not wanting to waste anymore than he already had.

Jin roared his battle cry, rallying the rest to arms, destroying the endless obsidian opponents that stood before them.

* * *

><p>"DIVE BOMBING!" Lire skidded backwards, the large piercing arrow shot straight through the last of the Dark Knight. She breathed out before she landed flat on her bottom. Looking around her, everyone was exhausted as well, tired to lift another finger up. All except Dio whom wanted nothing to do with the battle. "So.. What do we do now..?"<p>

"Hunt Melt down." Bluntly the cream haired demon stated, staggering on to Grandark, even he had lost a load of energy. The sword blinked in agreement, just as everyone else nodded in approval.

* * *

><p><strong>Phew. :D I'm satisfied.<strong>  
><strong>I have successfully made my OC the badass of this story! HELL YEAH!<strong>

***If I remember, Dio was stalking around the Relics of Kounat leaving those marks, right? RIGHT? :|**

**Explanation for Melt's Hell's Fire - Since Melt entered his Regina Tenebrae form, he's able to use dark based skills. So his 2nd Skill : Fireball just got upgraded to 2nd Skill : Hell's Fire.  
><strong>

**Btw, Rafas... eheheheh.. Personally, that's what I call him when I play GC alongside my family/cousins/friends etc. It's just cute to call him Rafas instead of Rufus, though I could imagine him going to shoot my brains out. So I made Little!Melt call him that XD  
>And just to be sure, Little!Melt only looks up to Rufus as an older brother, even if he was treated back like a pet.<br>**


	11. Chapter 11

**First,**  
><strong>Reply to shado (since you're a normal reviewer and I can't PM you -w-)<strong>  
><strong>Yes, the flashback in this Chapter 10 was a continuation from the one in Chapter 7.<strong>  
><strong>And, Melt being able to speak normally in Chapter 7 was an error I had forgotten to edit (HE ISN'T SUPPOSED TO <strong>**SPEAK THAT WAY ASDFGASDADFAGSASA *SHOT*). And he said his name without entering a dark state because he had yet to ****meet the darkness again until the flashback of Chapter 10, when it is awakened...**  
><strong>Cause how I work on each chapter is:<strong>  
><strong>1-Write a basic draft of chapter<strong>  
><strong>2-Write a second draft-a much more detailed and ordered draft<strong>  
><strong>3-From second draft, I write a cleaner version<strong>  
><strong>4-Edit the clean version-spelling checks &amp; make the characters more realistic to their personality etc.<strong>  
><strong>So I had forgotten to do such on flashback of Chapter 7... My mistake and I am sorry o-o" (but this proves I'm <strong>**human... D: I wished I was a cat, they're so purrrrfect X3 *SHOT AGAIN*)**  
><strong>And thanks for pointing that out.. I'll be fixing it right away -3-<strong>

* * *

><p>The Grand Chase was on sea again, now traveling from the island of Silver Land to the vast continent of Elia. This time, they had a companion with them.<p>

Rufus Wild, Bounty Hunter. He was a brunette with ruby eyes, and a well built body that was decked in maroon. Where he pockets his hands also hides his dual guns he calls Eyeteeth. He was very standoffish, preferred to be left alone as he was usually deep in thought to himself. Very much like a certain thief who had the same face as him, just standing on the opposite side of the boat.

Elesis had forced him to join them temporarily as they aimed to tackle one similar goal together. Bring down the so called _True_ Queen of Darkness-Melt Regina Tenebrae. Though after a long debate between the Bounty hunter and the Knight, the brunette had given up, tired of her irksome high pitch voice screaming into his pointed ears. Rufus sighed, not wanting to recall what messed up events happened afterward.

"This is an awkward situation..." Lire watched the two from a higher position, being the most motherly of them all, she could claim all rights to be worried. Ronan grunted beside her, feeling the tension around. There was a silence, much like the one they had face when Melt, still in his mysterious hood, was venturing with them towards Silver Land, yet there were no suspicions on the Bounty Hunter. Just a sense of unease as he had not gained enough trust points from any of the Grand Chase. And there was a heavy tension that hung over them.

A stormy atmosphere lolled over the Bounty Hunter and the Thief. They had been staring at each other the whole trip, shooting daggers at each other. And going in between them was like a death penalty, imaginary spears thrusting throughout the whole body, leaving the poor victim lying on the floor, fainted in the intense pressure. The most scariest part of it was that it would happen in pure silence.

"I can't deal with this any longer..." The spell knight took action, reluctantly dragging his feet towards the two powers. This shocked the other Grand Chase members as they knew he would be caught in the cross fire of the imaginary war between the brunette and the silverette. The spell knight looked at the two, there was hesitation that lingered in his body, yet he swallowed his fear. "You two are on night watch tonight..."

A yowl of surprise came from the two, but before they could protest, Ronan had left the two standing there as he entered a cabin. They dared not to fight back against the spell knight, they knew he wouldn't just impose on someone without a reason, unlike a certain brash, red headed knight they knew. They came to realize a hidden motive in his orders. Rufus muttered a curse while Lass pouted.

Ronan wanted them to clear all differences, kiss and make up. Basically, be _'friends'_.

* * *

><p>When the sun had disappeared, the night ruled perfectly throughout the vast sky. Most of the Grand Chase members had retired into their own respective cabins, leaving Dio basking himself in the dark night and Mari was reading her book in deep concentration, ignoring the lighting problems-too busy to realize it was late already.<p>

A long silence had passed over them, until Rufus decided to kill it, deciding that keeping this tense relationship with Lass was getting too irritating. "You.. Stabbed Melt instead of me earlier on.."

"I rather not trust that woman.. Never again.." The silverette was deep in thought, reminiscing what had happened when Kaze'Aze had took control of his body. But that reason wasn't the only one he stabbed Melt. At that moment, he never knew Melt had already been consumed by the darkness, and seeing the half beast acting like that, it scared him, scarring the silverette as it made a large void inside of him. He felt the angst pain of betrayal. It felt as if he was killed again and again. But he could remember how hollow those viridian eyes were.

It was so lonely. And he wanted to save it from that solitude. Because he knew how dangerously terrible it felt.

Rufus didn't seem to ask any more questions regarding the matter. The brunette could sense it, the darkness that the thief had been through. He gently shut his eyes. _'So he was the Kaze'Aze's vessel... That's why the Ringmaster mentioned a woman when they faced each other...'_ Looking back at the silverette, his sapphire eyes was darkened, very familiar to the bounty hunter. _'I guess, I wasn't the only one who suffered...'_

Another soundless moment lofted on the boat, with the exceptions of Mari's mumblings to herself and what seems to be Dio's snoring. Lass took in a deep breath. There was something that he wanted to let out for sometime, a question to the bounty hunter that had disturbed him for a very long time. "Why.. did you call yourself my brother..?"

"Because I am." An annoyed growl came from the thief, musing the bounty hunter as a smug smirk appeared on his face. "I found out recently. How our faces are so similar, how we both share the same scent, how alike our personalities are..."

".. I don't have a personality like yours..."

"I never said you had the same as mine. Just alike..."

"Crap like that.. It's just n-"

"Not to concrete to be proof? I agree." Rufus interrupted Lass, as if he was toying with the silverette's patience. The thief wanted to maul him so badly, but he kept his ground. That sinful smile still stayed put on the brunette's face as he continued to speak. "Melt once murmured something like using my brother, when both he and I knew I was a lone survivor of my own kin. But when I saw he was so close to you, I figured he meant you as my own blood."

"So it all goes to Melt..."

"... He seems to know it... The truth about our connection... And I want to know it.. Don't you..?"

The ruby eyes met sapphire for what it seems like an eternity, but this time, there was no lust for blood, there was no intention for war. Just a longing for understanding the other.

And a small thread called a bond was forged.

* * *

><p>The room was still engulfed with darkness but the white pillar continued to stand out, with two figures that stood in front of the other. One of them, a young male with emerald eyes and sky blue unkempt hair. He was a half beast, having pointed ears jutting out of his head and three fluffy tails. He was white all over, with crimson and azure stripes, and had a distinctive emerald gems embedded on his forehead. The other, had the same visible traits. Yet he possessed a darker shade of viridian eyes and he was partially shrouded in darkness.<p>

The first of the two spoke, trying his best at keeping his calm around the darker one. "What are you planning... You play along with the Grand Chase, lead Rufus to them.. This will only raise their chances to destroy you... Unless you have something else up your sleeves..."

The darker one laughed, "Wouldn't it be fun if I didn't spoil it for you~ Besides. This will keep you from restraining this body from warning them.." A snap of his fingers revealed chains-huge, thick and heavy-which held down the lighter one. He hissed in irk as the other felt more superior. "I suspected you took control of this body when that thief there stabbed this body so you could kill us both.. But you forgot that this body was made to be invincible."

"Tch... I was really hoping it would have worked. I'd rather die than be in the same body with you..."

"Hmph.. For your information, I don't like you either... "

Two remained silent for what it seemed like hours. Only their gaze locked at each others' eyes, sharing a silent connection. But in an instant, a surge of electricity rushed through them, both felt an undying pain rampaging in each other as they both collapsed to their knees.

"You.. Stop reading my memories..."

"You were looking through mine, so it was fair..." The darker of the two spat back, trying hard to regain his composure. "I see why you're so interested in that mage... She's important, huh..."

"And you.. This plot you're devising.. It's wrong.. You can just-"

"Shut up! You have no rights to tell me what I should and shouldn't do!" He screamed, wanting to rush to the shadow free being. But he was held back, chains from the darkness kept him from going further into that blank circle, near to that male. He grunted in irk, turning away. He too bear that curse, he could never remain in that lit area for long. "This is my body and I do what ever I want with it.."

"You're going to break them." He softly spoke back, wielding a pleading tone. The lighter one of the half breeds could see it, the emptiness in those viridian eyes yet so full of sorrowful regrets. "Please.. Don't do this.."

"Like I'd listen to you.." A harsh retort came back, "Sacrifices are needed to make the desired world..." Without a second glance, he walked away, disappearing into the darkness.

Now stood but one persona on the blank circle. He was still on his knees, having tears welled up in his eyes as they drop on to the floor. "This.. Even now.. When I have this body.. I couldn't do anything... Master.. Rufus.. Grand Chase.. _anyone_..!"

_'Please... Save him... From all this...'_

* * *

><p>BAM BAM BAM<p>

"RAAAAAAAAAAAARRWWW!"

"Wha-?" Arme jolted off her bed, falling on to the hard mahogany floor boards. Next to her, Lire had went through the same experience. The loud gun shots still continued, but lingering with them was the clashing of swords and the barbaric bellows of what seemed to them as war cries, banging hard into their ear drums. The blond elf had a concerned look, much like the mage's own as they quickly dressed and shot out.

"What's happening?" Frantic, Lire demanded an answer when she saw Ley had entered into the hallway from the outside of the boat. The pink demon gave a mere shrug and floated into her own room, one she shared with the missing rune caster and a just-awakened-from-her-beauty-sleep muse.

"If Ley isn't so worried, maybe it's nothing bad..." Lire mumbled to the mage, having a half-hearted smile. Obviously she was more than worried, especially since the demon doesn't seem to mind the constant bombardment of sounds in the air. The mage and the bowmen decided to go out.

Once they pushed the door open, they got the shock of their lives when they saw a great vermilion wolf landing right in front of them. He took a brief sniff before he launched himself in to the air again. Following him, was the great Seighart dropping his Gladius with a slam, probably took out a few years out of the two girls' lives. The raven haired simultaneously turned to block his behind, the slash of Elesis' sword. The two skidded backwards when Jin crash landed towards the two, taking the position. He somersaulted back up, shooting towards Lass that was in midair, raining down a load of ninja knives. The silverette grunted, he was already busy dodging the bullets that Rufus shot towards him from ground. Meanwhile, Mari was shooting blue orbs at the bounty hunter.

"Wha... What's the meaning of this?" Lire stuttered. From the floor above them, they could hear the sigh of the Spell Knight.

"Master Seighart."

"... I see..." The elf had her palms in her face. Somehow, she'd imagine that trouble making carefree man do something like this sooner or later. As the two girls made their way next to Ronan, he briefed them about what had happened. Apparently, Seighart caught both Lass and Rufus sleeping in sunrise. The girls were more surprised that the Great Hero could actually wake up so early. But back to topic, Seighart annoyed the two to the point they started fighting a three way battle. Ryan later on was pulled into the battle for no apparent reason. Elesis, being Elesis, wanted to participate so she started slashing away. Jin then entered the arena, since he saw this as another chance to spar against the Bounty Hunter. Mari, on the other hand, was disturbed by them whilst she was reading, so she's trying to destroy them all.

"... Note to self : Never disturb Mari while she's reading." Arme stated to herself. But she felt relieved, like the other two next to her, that Rufus doesn't seem to have a murderous look at Lass anymore. It seemed that Ronan's plan had successfully worked out well, but thought otherwise when they saw the brunette feel good that he had hit the thief and the other way around. Behind her, she could hear Dio, he was still sleeping. They all knew he wasn't a morning person but-

"OH DAMN! DIO GET YOUR FRIGGIN' ASS OUT OF THE WAY!" Seighart was going to land on the sleeping demon. Dio blinked his eyes open, irritated that he was interrupted in his slumber, only to be surprised to see an incoming immortal that was going to crash on to him. The demon raised his hand to use his powers to repel the immortal, but instead, Seighart twisted his body, enough for him to land just next to the demon. Though, Elesis, still in hot pursuit to the raven haired, didn't think she was going to strike Dio.

"That's going to be a mess..." Ronan muttered, clearly mourning on behalf of the female knight as she was blasted to the front part of the ship by one outraged demon. Dio slammed his claws deep into the gladiator, throwing him to his descendant. The demon then went his way to rampage on the field. The spell knight sighed again, knowing by now he couldn't stop this mayhem when the two most powerful forces are in it. "Thus our new competitor, Dio has entered the field."

"Leaving us, Amy and Ley.." Lire watched the fight just below them, Jin was in a heated one on one battle with Ryan in his wolf form, howls and yowls of battle cries. The fighter knew his opponent well, being fast and agile, he landed a numerous amount of punches on to the furry mass. But on the other hand, the wolf was much more defensive in his current state, being an indestructible wall as he swiped away the fighter. They were soon broken apart when simultaneously, the wolf became occupied by the rune caster's spells and the fighter was assaulted from behind by a person much more red than he was.

On the other hand, Arme was watching closely at a certain silverette, escaping the wrath of the incoming violet demon and the raining bullets of the bounty hunter. He had skidded back and disappeared into thin air using a ninja technique. Astonished to the disappearance, Dio was taken back, but he couldn't stop his charge and slammed his head right to Rufus' gut. Lass reappeared, having a smug grin, only to be wiped away when an immortal caught him off guard and shoved his face right to the floor, getting the last laugh. Though Dio caught sight of the raven haired and started to lust for his blood. Rufus, still keeping track of his prey, shot yet another handful of bullets to the thief.

The arena soon became clear when each had their own sparring partner. Ryan against Mari, Jin against Elesis, Dio against Seighart and Lass against Rufus. The three spectators watched in the passing time, ignorant of the fact they all have not eaten a scrap for breakfast, more awe at the epic battle in front of them. Though the elf began to realize something missing. "Where's Zero..? Doesn't he enjoy moments like this..?"

When Zero's presence was questioned, all of the competitors instantaneously paused, feeling a chill sent through their spine. All eyes looked up to see there had been another hidden spectator, enjoying the view from the crow's nest. Zero gave out a low pouting moan, he wanted to continue watching the battle, with the motive to learn their movements. "I'll join."

"HE-! HE FRIGGIN' SMILED!" Ryan yowled in fear, taken off guard as he watched the usually emotionless cream haired demon jump off the crow's nest, dragging Grandark with him. Zero threw down Grandark towards the floor, all who was on the battlefield knew what he was going to commit.

"Bleeding Gash." He spoke so silently, as he slammed on to the ground with Grandark, creating huge masses of spikes jutting out from where he aimed. Most of the competitors had already launched themselves away from the site, avoiding the frontal assault. The demon hummed, as he took his sword out of the floorboards, spikes disappearing away. Zero was in his sword stance, waiting for someone to try his luck against him. Grandark blinked with a gleam of excitement, taunting them all.

"So you _dare_ try to be so cocky in _front_ of _me_?" Seighart smirked, feeling much giddier than before. The raven haired sheathed his Gladius and took out his Soluna. Ronan gulped, seeing that the immortal had decided to change into his last job-the Prime Knight. He was going to take this battle seriously now. "Let me show you the grand powers of _the _Legendary Seighart!"

As the immortal charged towards the cream haired demon, Dio sniffed as a sinful smile appeared. "Legendary my ass. I'll see to it that I'll be victorious in against both of you!"

And no sooner, the war shifted back into its original free for all battle. The three spectators sighed.

"Should we go back in?"

"Yeah, I haven't had breakfast yet.."

"I bet Amy took charge of that."

"She's going to get angry that we made her do the cooking.."

"Yeah.. But it's better than Ley's... delicacy?"

"... Pretty much.. Let's go.."

* * *

><p>"Damn, I'm exhausted." The brunette muttered, landing on to the bed that stood in front of him. After a satisfying lunch-they skipped breakfast- and a health check up from the Grand Chase's healer, he wanted to sleep so badly. He heard a flop coming from the other side, Lass had kissed the bed and comfortably indulging the softness. Both were too groggy to take off their current clothes, deciding to sleep with them.<p>

They both stayed silent for a moment, wanting to let slumber take over their worlds, until Lass muttered out, keeping the two awake. "Tomorrow.. We'll land on Ellia.."

"... Melt's there.. With answers..."

"Do you really want the truth so badly..?" The brunette didn't reply, giving some thought into that question.

"I want what was mine back as well..." Rufus stuffed his head on to the pillow as he continued, this time his sentence were gagged with the pillow so Lass couldn't make out most of what he had just said. The thief grunted, demanding to know what he had said. An annoyed expression came from the ruby eyes as he shot a glare at the silverette across the small room. "To save my little Melt from the darkness... Though initially, it's my fault he was consumed by the darkness in the first place..."

"Hey. If I were in Melt's position at that time, I would've done anything to protect you.." Lass remembered the brunette's tale, how that child had desperately wanted to save his master.

".. I didn't mean that.. I mean.." The red eyes were half shut, forcing the owner to get some sleep. "Melt wouldn't have never been a sacrifice.. If it wasn't for me..."

Before the silverette could say another word, a soft snore seeped out of the bounty hunter. _'What did he mean by that...'_

* * *

><p>"WE'VE LANDED ON ELLIA~!" Elesis stretched out her hands in the air, feeling her foot finally on the the soft ground, instead of the hard floorboards of the ship.<p>

"Calm down, Red!" The call came from behind her as a hand reached out to her head, brushing her head roughly. "You're going to attract unwanted attention from any of Melt's troops."

"MELT! WE'RE GOING TO SAVE YOU FROM THAT DARKNESS! YOU HEAR ME!" Ignoring the hero's advice, Elesis roared out to the horizon in front of her. Full of energy and a burning spirit, she charged ahead, the immortal trailing behind her, laughing at her idiocy when he's doing the same thing as her.

"Save Melt.." Rufus muttered, gazing beyond his sights. It was shrouded in a mist of darkness, just like in the past, when Kaze'Aze ruled over. A pat on his back made him jolt, still uncomfortable at the show of friendship made by the thief. A silent nod from him, made him sure they'd be successful, Melt will be taken out of that abyss of darkness once and for all.

As the two brothers walked side by side, the mage behind them couldn't help but smile. She was happy that Lass had met a kin of his own, though it brought a feel of loneliness to her. Those same sinful feelings like when Lass was stuck with Melt. Nevertheless, she kept Ley's words in her mind, _'Mortals whom are like that just want to forge a bond of friendship that will never break.'_

But the show they saw, how Melt just changed into pure darkness, she could feel the silverette wasn't so happy to see it. To witness he had been betrayed so easily, their friendship shattered into pieces. Yet deep inside, the mage could tell Lass didn't want to let go of his friend. Arme looked at the two guys in front of her again.

_'This time.. I want to make sure that bond never does break...'_

* * *

><p><strong>This was the most hardest chapters I've written so far. Especially the part where Lass and Rufus becomes all buddy-buddy. It's not really my type of thing to write stuff like that.. o-o"<strong>  
><strong>So I made myself happy by putting in a battle scene :D GRAND CHASE RUMBLE ARENA! FREE FOR ALL BATTLE!<strong>  
><strong>... Come on.. It's bound to happen someday, right? X3<strong>  
><strong><br>Btw - I'm really glad that shado had pointed out a mistake in my work. I want to make this as great as I can so peeps out there find another mistake, feel free to point it out :3**


	12. Chapter 12

Mari watched her companions walk in front of her, as well as the strange brunette who had claimed himself to be Lass' brother. The rune caster had given some thoughts to that matter. It seemed biologically possible for them to be step brothers, bearing the same kind of body structure. Their past must have linked somewhere, the rune caster fixed her glasses, reminding herself she'll study their past later on.

What was in her mind, was the subject she called Melt. It was just not possible for a young boy to become a half beast so suddenly. Nor was it possible that a mere technique could transform a male into a female. What made her mind hurt was that the gender transformation was temporary. But the list of problems didn't stop there.

There was also the monsters that worshiped Melt. They had stated that 'the Queen has risen.' Why risen? Why did they not say 'the Queen is back'? Maybe the monsters might have a lower IQ regarding such matters but it still disturbed her. The creatures that strayed around the Ruins of the Silver Knights were acceptable, yet this fact doesn't seem to apply to the Black Knights of Victor's Castle. They were at least educated to know basic English.

Or was the fact that Melt had said Kaze'Aze had died was not something he had shouted out of impulse? Well, right now, they all shared the common thought that they were going to save him from the darkness, from the lingering wrath of Kaze'Aze. She had to keep that as an option until she had more proof to back up on that fact.

Her worries continued to the fact that Melt could contain that much of the Kaze'Aze's darkness. She had calculated with most details that Melt had harbored far more than what the former vessel, Lass, had been burdened. And the fact that Lass had carried far more than a powerful man's threshold meant that Melt was not an average boy at all.

Mari sighed as she thought of Melt, not raising back the previous generals of the former Queen of Darkness, such as Partusay, the Black Fairy and Gaikoz. The three would have acted as great chess pieces, being a rook, a bishop and a knight, protecting the King that was Melt. Nevertheless, Mari thought this was better, it would save the Grand Chase a lot of time.

Melt was more than an average boy. That was Mari's conclusion. And it had to be researched as soon as possible. Especially when Melt had left them alive back at Victor's Castle. Why did he not just seize the moment to kill them? Or send them away into a dimensional rip? Or etc.

Melt should have gotten rid of them at that point, so he could take over this world with darkness. Yet why didn't he?

"What's up, Mari?" The immortal beside her had questioned her of her well being. She looked back at him, he who had that usual sheepish grin of his, arms laid behind his head, walking lazily. This male immortal that went by the name Seighart was specified to her as an odd person, being so happy-go-lucky when he's serious inside. That much Mari can deduct. He was also an observant person, a trait that she didn't expect him to have, especially when he had noticed how much thought she had given to this problem she was tackling whilst her expressionless face remained unchanged.

"Master Seighart, I am feeling troubled, both my mind and my heart hurts." The rune caster replied to the immortal after a short silence of thinking. Another trait she noticed from Seighart was the fact he didn't mind that she had taken her time replying to him, unlike most people who thought that she didn't seem to want to reply back.

"Are you finally facing love troubles, Mari?" Seighart joked, wanting to liven up the mood around the rune caster. She stared at him for a brief moment before she opened her mouth.

"Yes, Master Seighart. I think I'm falling for you."

He fell. He fell flat on his face, kissing the ground. The violet demon right behind him wasn't laughing, he was more freaked out at the fact Mari had feelings for such a man. Though it seems that their little group was the only one whom had heard Mari speak such. The rune caster gave a quick glance at the faces of the two men, then continued her walk. "Such information is nothing but pure legitimate deception to obtain such mirthful expressions from the likes of Master Seighart and Master Dio."

"...Huh..?"

"She was just joking to see how stupid our faces would look like."

"I-I knew that!" The raven haired quickly got to his feet, still shaken from the rune caster's words. Though a light blush had made its way on his face. "Damn it, Mari. That was unfair! I'll get you back!"

Feeling that her stress had been lifted away, she turned to the immortal. He was still in his flustered condition, thinking of those words she gave him that lingered in his mind. "Master Seighart. The truth is that I am feeling quite troubled about our opponent, the subject called Melt."

"No need to fear now, Mari. We'll deal with him and then your pain in your heart will surely disappear~"

"You words are proven to be useless as they do not seem to comfort me at all, Master Seighart."

"Owch..." Dio snickered on the other side of Mari, after eavesdropping on the whole conversation. "Just drop the act to pick up Mari, old man."

"Hmph. Who's picking up Mari?" The immortal scowled, after getting another direct hit to his heart from the blunt teen. Nevertheless, Mari was still thinking of her problem that ceased to leave her mind. "Then, how about you share Dio your troubles? He might be able to help you."

Mari stared at the stygian next to her. He stared back at her, feeling awkward now. The rune caster then fixed her glasses, going back to gazing what lies beyond their destination. "He would not be of use as he has inadequate intellectual quotient regarding the matter."

"... I have no idea what she said, but it's got to be hilarious, seeing your stupid face there." Seighart laughed at the violet demon's stunned face. The stygian knew exactly what Mari said. And he was just... Shocked.

"H-Hey! Don't you dare underestimate me, human!" He yowled to the rune caster after giving a harsh smack on the immortal's head to silence him. After catching up to Mari, he questioned the girl of her troubles, with the goal to reclaim his pride back. "I might have little information regarding the topic, and that is useful, right?"

"Hmm... Then I shall share you my troubles, Master Dio. Unlike an immortal I am acquainted to, you seem to know what to do."

The demon felt satisfied that he had Mari on his side, as Seighart fell on to the ground hard again, feeling back stabbed.

"MARI! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS!"

".. Because I am a woman." A glint of mischief sparkled in her eyes, sending shivers down the two males' spine. They noted to themselves, Mari was a dangerous woman, and not one to mess with.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Rufus. Do you like cherry pie?" Arme asked, landing another question to the brunette. Rufus, being in solitary for such a long time, wasn't so used to speaking to others, let alone girls for that matter, backed away from the nearing magician, feeling very uneasy.<p>

"No." Rufus replied truthfully. He never did bother to eat something with a greater quality than the average meat they give out in taverns. He was careful at spending his money, having to live as a bounty hunter and getting paid with money hard earned by risking his own life, bring down his own taste of justice. So, he had not had the chance to try out something so extravagant as cherry pie.

"Then what's your favorite meal?"

"Is this going to be important..?" The brunette scowled, only to receive a shot of fury from his brother. Rufus grunted irksomely. "I don't see the reason I have to tell you my personal information.. It's not like I'm going to join you after I take back Melt.."

"Not while I'm around. With your gunmanship, we could use someone like you." Elesis pointed out, her forcefulness had successfully pushed the bounty hunter to however she wanted him to do. She was confident that she'd be able to force him to joining the Grand Chase. "Besides, you've got your brother here right?"

The bounty hunter grunted, making a sly smirk. "It seems you are misunderstanding my relationship with my brother there.."

"What..?" Lass peered to the brunette, finding an uneasy feeling to that smile of his.

"After I take back what is mine, I'll be taking brother's life.." A desire for blood glittered in his ruby eyes, staring back at the sapphire that watched him.

"Wait! You're saying you want to kill him? But-"

"Yes, I do." Rufus snickered, but the sense of seriousness lingered in his tone. "He possesses the blue flames that reside in him."

Though the rest weren't so sure what he spoke of, Ryan knew what the bounty hunter was speaking of. The druid remembered clearly what happened in the Nightmare circus.

* * *

><p><em><span>Ryan's POV<span>_

Damn, the heat's really getting to me, I can feel my strength seeping out of me slowly. But I have to get him out of here, the place will collapse and kill us all if we don't move now. "Don't worry, Lass. We'll be out in no time."

"AAaaargh!" Lass screamed, slipping out of my grasp so easily. I was surprised alright, the guy still had more energy in him to fight on. But that wasn't the whole reason I was shocked.

Lass was engulfed with the blue flames, much like the ones that burned passionately in the circus. They wrapped around him like a cloak of azure, majestically showing off his lust for revenge. The thief, consumed in that blind rage, shot towards the psychopathic ringmaster, snapping me out of my fears. I ignored those flame and swallowed back my fears.

"LASS GET BACK HERE!" I screamed at him as I trailed behind, knowing that this wouldn't turn out great. Yet the teen did not respond, disillusioned in taking back his revenge, sealing away the past forever. I know how much he wanted this, how much he wanted to finally break free from his past. But this wasn't the best way to end it, especially when he could die from this. Then how would he enjoy his life then?

"LASS!" I kept howling his name, even when I knew it wouldn't reach his ears. But I was silenced when I heard a gunshot. I stared blankly at what laid in front of me. The fall of the Ringmaster, the silverette roaring in anger. The blue flames sparking uncontrollably around him.

I couldn't see where the bullet came from, but I know that the heat in the tent was getting out of hand. I had to get the thief out of this place, even if I had to force him out by knocking him unconscious. Coughing as I got closer to Lass, now standing there, frozen in time. The flames finally dispersed as I got near him and he just collapsed there in exhaustion.

I didn't care what happened to that cursed fire, taking the thief by the arm and heaving him over me. The Ringmaster just lied there, motionless and dead, unlike how he was moments ago. The gunshot would've been pretty powerful to just kill him like that. I shook my head, feeling very nauseating with the rising temperature.

But I could have sworn that I felt another presence there...

* * *

><p><em>Back to Third person POV<em>

_'But in the cave Lass did explain that it was Rufus there... But he never did mention anything about blue flames back then, so I had thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me...'_ Ryan thought, concerned of his comrade's well being and curious to what the bounty hunter had to say about these blue flames he seem to know so well. The druid felt a little downhearted, seeing that something like this had happened again to him later on in Silver Land regarding Rufus' sudden appearance there. But he kept his spirits up, remembering what the blond elf had told him to cheer him up.

"Come now! You two just made up! Don't start fighting now!" Lire stood between the two guys, they who were shooting daggers with their minds again.

"I promise I'll take your life..."

"Try doing it. You might just end yours.."

"Lire, let them be.." Elesis held back the wall between the brunette and the silverette. The elf was unsure to do such a thing, but she followed her leader's orders. Though, this in turn forced triggered the bounty hunter to unsheathe his eyeteeth, shooting straight towards the thief. Lass successfully dodged the bullet, returning a kunei knife towards the bounty hunter.

The rest of the Grand Chase took notice, keeping their guard up towards the sudden change of side of the bounty hunter. Though, Ronan and Jin volunteered to break the fight, it seems that the red Knight was against that, holding them back by their shoulders.

"They're brothers. A fight amongst themselves was bound to happen sooner or later.."

"Oh, and when did you become so smart?" Arme teased the knight, somehow understanding why Elesis had said so as she could see Lass and Rufus had started trading punches with their bare hands, no longer using such dangerous weaponaries and forgetting her worries about them.

"I had my own fights with Elsword.." Elesis puffed her chest right after she whacked the mage for indirectly calling her an idiot. She could remember how much she had battled with her younger brother. "And as far as I'm concerned, we've gotten closer like that."

A gunshot and a kunei knife shot passed just inches away from her head, silencing Elesis. The glares of both ruby and sapphire eyes petrified her.

"You saying we're getting closer?" Both Lass and Rufus, badly beaten up by the other, growled at the knight simultaneously, only to get more irritated that they were saying the same things. Rufus pounced on to the silverette, giving him yet another punch to his face. Lass countered it with a kick to his gut, forgetting the rest of the world.

"... See... Very Close.." Though, the knight unsheathed her sword, her eyes darkened after nearly being killed. "BUT THAT WILL ALSO MEAN YOU TWO WILL DIE AS CLOSE BROTHERS!"

So the hot headed knight bursted into action, wanting to rip out the two heads of the brothers, sending sweatdrops over the spectators. Nevertheless, no matter how hard she tried to do so, they seem to be successful at throwing her out of their battle.

'Though.. He didn't continue on about the blue flames...' Ryan sighed, though he knew the reason as he saw what was in front of him; a beautiful blond elf, back facing towards him. "More like Lire had to butt in... heheheh.."

"What did you say?" The emerald eyes glared back at the druid, only for him to realized that he had accidentally spoke out his thoughts. Lire kept a sweet smile, as her eyes darkened. And Ryan knew he was done for.

* * *

><p>"A new Queen of Darkness? Hmph. What can a small fry like you offer us? The last one gave me death!" A screech echoed around the large hall, a large harpy like wisp fluttered above the throne, nothing but anger bursted out of her.<p>

"We won't offer our help without any proof that you give us what we want." Another wisp grunted, he was larger, taking a form of a faded orc lord, his accessories showed off all respect that he gained whilst he was live. Despite being a wisp, he stood against the wall, as if he still had a body to lean on the wall.

"I want them back.." A dragon like wraith hissed from another corner, "Give me back my life... Give me back my rule over my kin..!"

"GUAAAAAAHH!" It roared without of control, the spirit of an odd green troll, rampaging around the hall. But when it realized noting could be destroyed by it, it went berserk and continued to rampage around.

"Tch.. Who summoned you all? Not me! So get back to sleep!" Shrouded in darkness, the half beast sat on a huge throne, rubbing his aching temple as he tried to block out the whines of the four spirits. They were the Kaze'Aze's generals, and they expected more than what the former Queen could give them if they were going to work under Melt. On the other hand, Melt didn't want them around in the first place, repeating the fact that he didn't need them at all. "Tch.. That lousy woman.. Why did she choose idiots as her generals..."

The four ghosts disappeared in an instant, each being slashed from their waist as they cried out in agony. A silent click followed after, a phantom appeared before the blue haired male, sheathing his sword. The samurai like ghost bowed to him, in a form of formal greeting, as he kneeled down. A sinful smirk made its way on to the white half beast. "It seems not all of them were idiots..."

"I will be under your command, Melt Regina Tenebrae."

"And tell me, what do I have that you want...?"

".. My request had already been fulfilled.. But I will still serve you.."

"Really? Even knowing that Kaze'Aze was the one who killed your lover, in the battle between Kanavan and Serdin. Even when she was the reason the Grand Chase was made, and lead you to your second death. And you still dare to serve the one that possesses her powers?" The samurai flinched, yet he kept his composure, staying in his same kneeling position, head down. "Gaikoz.. You will follow my every command..?"

A silence lulled over them, until the ghost knight finally decided to stand and speak up. "She merely manipulated me with her dark intentions. But you, even within the darkness, continue to speak the truth to me. The truth that she killed my lover. She lead me to my second death." Melt looked at the samurai differently as he made a sincere smile. "And you, even if you do possess her power, do you possess her heart?"

The half beast went on his feet, unexpected to the fact that this ghost may know more that what he intends to reveal. Melt's finger's twitched, wanting to claw away what Gaikoz may unveil to the world. Yet, the ghost knight merely looked back to the half beast.

"I know what had happened to Kaze'Aze. And I know what a child like yourself is going to use with her powers." The samurai took his sword, unsheathing it, and lay it on the ground before him as he kneeled down again. "Therefore I shall serve you, until your desire is fulfilled."

Melt looked down to the ghost knight. He sighed. "Damn it, Gaikoz. I don't think you'll leave me alone if I won't let you help me... But you are better than the rest of them.." The half beast cast his hand over the ghost, letting his demonic aura drip on to the samurai.

His body materialized, and he was breathing. Gaikoz was brought back to life again, not a spiritual being anymore.

"I will make sure the rest of the former Generals do not interfere anymore, and will not know what you are plotting." The samurai bowed before he ran out of the hall, his footsteps echoing throughout the room.

"... I should've brought him back to life in the first place... I wouldn't have this terrible headache so early in the morning.." Melt returned to the lone throne in the hall, going back to his lazy position on it. He shut his eyes gently, feeling the tiredness upon his body after running for miles in a short amount of time. _'That samurai.. how did he know? How much does he know..?'_

"I told him.." Another being stood before him. It was the mirror image of himself, but unlike him, the being had no shadows shrouding him. He was still _'pure'_. Melt realized he was inside himself, in the dark room with a sole white circle in the middle, with his image sitting there.

"I should have known you'd be interfering.. But Gaikoz around will not keep me from fulfilling what I want."

"I know..." Melt looked at his copy in bewilderment, he was actually letting giving himself to Melt. "I asked him to help.."

"What are you planning..." Before Melt could continue, the darkened half beast collapsed, only to find himself back into reality, finding Gaikoz standing before him. The former ghost had been nudging him to wake up, which surprised him. "Gaikoz..? You're back so early..?"

"I came back to report that I've sighted the Grand Chase nearing. They've decided to go straight to this castle from Kamiki's, without going through the Temple of Fire."

"O-Oh..." Melt sighed, seeing the knight waiting obediently for a reply.

_'Damn it.. I don't care who's my allies or enemies.. I won't let anyone interfere my plans..'  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Guh.. I've given up most parts of this chapter.. Honestly, I rather skip the coming few chapters and go to the main epic battle cause I love imagining and writing battle scenes! XD But there are some important parts around that I need to write down..<strong>

**... D: I AM SORRY FOR MAKING MARI A LITTLE OOC BUT IT WAS TEMPTING!**  
><strong>BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN, AND A VERY SMART ONE, SHE CAN BULLY THOSE TWO AS FREELY AS SHE CAN! XD<strong>  
><strong>Btw, I kind of noticed that my version of their event in the Nightmare circus is definitely different from the real version. No chizz.. So let's just look away for a bit.. eheheh... *shoots self*<strong>

**Later on, there will be more flashbacks! So prepare for the attacks of more flashbacks! :|**


	13. Chapter 13

Lass grunted, finally feeling the painful stings of bruises all over his body. Rufus groaned next to him, sitting down on the stone slab laying there. They had already applied on the first aid over themselves, now letting time heal their wounds.

"This is _your_ fault.." Lass muttered to the bounty hunter. He didn't enjoy being restricted to sitting down and waiting for himself to regain back his strength.

"And _I_ take pleasure in watching _you_ suffer.." The brunette snickered, enjoying the fact it was his fault that his own brother was beaten up so badly.

"... That just sounds so.. _wrong_..."

"Thanks. It's a hobby to make others feel uneasy..."

"... Urgh.. How am I related to you..." Lass rolled his eyes, as Rufus smirked slyly.

As the two guys bickered to themselves, the rest seems to have found a job for themselves to do. They were divided into 3 - creating the camp, hunting for food and scouting the area for monsters. Though, as usual, the immortal chose neither of these options and escaped. On the other hand, the wanderer had, well, wandered off somewhere.

"By the way, Lass." Amy interrupted them, smiling at the silverette only to receive the usual standoffish aura of his, unlike the one he showed to the brunette just a second ago - an angered expression that he rarely puts on. The deity felt a little disappointed that she didn't have him showing a different side of his to her being a friend of his much longer than the brunette, but she shrugged it off. "Ah.. Arme went into Kamiki's castle. Just so you know."

The thief watched the teen skip away from them before he forced himself to stand. The bounty hunter did nothing but observe him staggering away, to the direction of the towering abandoned castle. The brunette turned back to see the dancer, giggling with the summoner. They were gossiping something that took his attention.

"Nee, I hope this will _finally_ get Lass together with Arme. I can't stand those two just hanging around together just as friends."

"I know your talk, little deity. I'm been so worried for them. Arme's just not daring enough and Lass is a total blockhead in romance."

"No chizz. But Lass is really cute when he gets it though, especially when he blushes madly."

"Hohoho~ You're right on that one. But the poor soul's just a child in this field called love. He'll probably get used to it when he's older. Just like his own brother there." Ley pointed to the bounty hunter. He was already brushed with a dash of pink in his face from over hearing such language from the girls. Rufus was suddenly being the center of interest of the two girls.

"Rufus~"

"Wha-?"

* * *

><p>Arme took her time walking in the ancient ruin, absorbing every little detail in the castle. She remembered the last time she was here, Elesis dragging her roughly to the depths of the castle to chase Kaze'Aze, with Lire, Ryan, Jin and Ronan catching up on them from behind as they all battled their way through many rooms filled with Anmons. The mage glanced at every corners, discovering how this place was very beautiful in its own way.<p>

She halted when she saw deep markings around. She recalled the rumor that she once heard, one Ronan had said before. _'A vagabond knight called a "Wanderer," who supposedly drags something behind him and leaving a trail.'_

The mage couldn't help but let out a weak chuckle when she saw the so called _'vagabond knight'_ right in front of her, gazing closely to his own _'trails'_, with the help of his _'something'_ that he _'drags behind him'_. Zero gently caressed the deep markings, as if trying to remember what he was doing here when he left them. Arme left the demon to solve the problem on his own as she pressed on deeper into the castle, winking at the sword so he'd help. Grandark blinked irritatedly back to her.

At last, Arme reached the last room of the castle, the main hall of Kamiki's castle. This room was the place where she went through one of the most hardest moments of her life; Facing war against her own kind, her own comrade in arms. Elena, an Elder of the Violet Mages, was their opponent in this very room.

"Elena..." She whispered her senior's name. She was manipulated so easily by Kaze'Aze and her wrathful darkness. The mage kept believing that, she knew that Elena wasn't the kind who'd just sink so low.

Though, she clenched her fist tighter. Arme couldn't forgive that bloody Queen for just using Elena like a pawn, then played with her body like a puppet, transforming it into Kamiki.

"Arme.." The teen took a fright when her name was called out, turning around to see Lass, leaning on to a wall. The mage took in a deep breath, letting free of the stress built in her body. "I.. Once heard what happened here from Elesis and Lire.. Uh.. You don't have to.. Ah..."

The thief started stuttering, suddenly having a blackout in his mind when he was supposed to say something to comfort the mage. Though light ceased to exist so brightly in the hall, Arme could see his face turned a light shade of pink. She giggled, letting the silverette stop. "I know Lass. To me, the past was the past, and I had let them go. I know dwelling on it would never do me any good."

"T-That's good.." Lass replied as he glanced, feeling embarrassed to have contact with the amethyst eyes.. "But you're still here..."

"I'm here to visit the grave of my senior. Is that so wrong?" The violet mage questioned him blankly as she received back a short brief no, embarrassment entwined in the thief's tone. Arme shut her eyes gently. Most of it was the truth, since she still had lingering feelings of regrets of the past. Yet she didn't want to submit to them. Arme knew by doing so, she'd be contradicting herself, remembering how she had comforted the thief from his dreaded past a long time ago.

When the mage blinked her eyes open, she saw the silent silverette next to her, eyes closed. Arme could tell he was mourning along side her. She patted the thief gently. "Let's go back."

* * *

><p>Yowls of laughter became louder when they approached the campsite. Arme, being leaned on to by a still recovering Lass, was getting curious to why it was so cheerful there. As they entered the camp, they found nothing but chaos.<p>

"Rufus~ Come on, play with me~" Ley tugged the brunette lightly by his ear. He shivered, scampering away from the pink demon, only to be confronted by both a dancer and an elf.

"What's going on..?" Arme asked an amused Ronan as Lass took his time to render the scene into his mind. The spell knight kept chuckling on.

"It seems that Rufus is more innocent that we know." The two teens gave him a blank look. "He may seem like a pervert, but he isn't one in heart."

"Rufus~" Lire took the brunette by his hand, Amy took his other hand. "want to go on a date with us?"

"I.. I.." Rufus merely turned red in embarrassment, his ears included. The half demon shrugged the two girls off him before he took another quick escape and sought solace, this time behind a fellow demon. The three girls giggled in delight, finding a new toy to play with as he stuttered back his reply. "N.. No thanks.."

"Pheh.. You can be so tough in the field, yet your weakness are _girls_..?"

"Shut up.. I'm not used to girls around me.." The bounty hunter pouted, still having a flustered face, giving a light smack to his senior's back.

"This is ironic." Jin pointed out. "Being a demon, yet so innocent. But his own brother _is_ still in the process of getting himself a girl."

"Wh-What are you saying, Jin?" This time, Lass turned as red as his own brother. Arme wasn't there to see it, though. She had already went into a tent, but she had heard clearly what the fighter had spoken.

"Ahh~ purely innocent, young love~" Seighart sang out, enjoying this very much, though he received glares of fury from the two brothers.

* * *

><p>Already humiliated enough, Rufus had retired early, not wanting to face more to come. Taking out his eyeteeth and inspecting its maintainability, he was calming himself down. He remembered he was to share a tent with Lass. The bounty hunter sighed. The Grand Chase had been so excited with trying to get him to be closer to Lass, being brothers. But he still kept remembering what the thief had in him.<p>

The blue flames. They acted as a source of evil. And Lass had them in him.

He had to kill his own brother to vanquish those murderous flames.

He didn't turn back when someone else entered the tent, assuming it was Lass that had given up on trying to cope with the other noisy people. Rufus continued to pay attention solely to his beloved dual guns. There were soft rustlings of the thief, entering into a sleeping bag. Then silence lulled over them.

When what it seems like the whole Grand Chase had finally retired and leaving the outside of the tent in peace, Lass decided to break the silence between them. "Rufus. You.. Said that you're the fault of Melt being a sacrifice.."

The bounty hunter ceased his activity. He turned around, only to see the back of the silverette facing him. "I don't recall ever saying that.. To you.."

"You were half asleep."

"So you expect _me_ to tell _you_?"

"That's better than me choking it out of you with my nodachi."

"... Fair enough." Rufus sighed, giving up so easily to him. "You'd be dead before you'll tell anyone.." The rest of his sentence ticked off the thief, but he kept his composure and stayed facing away. The brunette decided to tell his tale after he slipped into his sleeping bag, knowing the night was already so late.

".. I knew Melt before he was involved with that dark occult. Before Melt.. Melt turned into what _he_ is now.."

* * *

><p><em>Rufus POV<em>

Damn it. Who knew being a bounty hunter was tough. Oh well, at least the money is grand. Problem is, not many people tend to trust the likes of me. Me being a _half_ demon.

I tightened my grip on my wrist. It finally stopped bleeding after getting scratched by a dark gorgon. My hands were important to me. Especially when I use them to fight with my Eyeteeth. Unfortunately, I was no expert in first aid, so the best I could do was wrapping it up with an old cloth and making sure it stopped bleeding.

This was going to be a bit troublesome for me. I was on another bounty hunt for the blue flames that escaped the Underworld. The humans have thought _yet_ another idiotic way to seize power, in the process, making war against each other _and_ other species. Nevertheless, for what ever reason they want to use it, I was still going to take them back to the Underworld. But I'm still irritated that my wrist won't be functioning well if I don't get proper treatment for it.

Up ahead, I could smell something baking. It was delicious. But, I could tell humans wouldn't like it if I just waltz in their turf. Humans always hated things they weren't so familiar with. I took a turn from the path, deciding to go around the human town and maybe enter it in a less likely opening where I won't attract much attention. It stood in the middle of a forest, so I took my time traveling in the dense evergreen. But my nose kept sniffing out that blissful scent.

"Is someone there..?" A small voice squeaked from behind me. I turned to see a small human girl. She had turquoise eyes and hair. In her hands was a large rugged bag. It surprised me in many ways. I've rarely seen a human with those kind of appearance in these parts of the world. And she wasn't even scared of me when she approached me, more like in awe that I'm different from her. "Why are you in my secret place..?"

Secret place? I looked around me, there was nothing special about this spot. The girl let out a light snicker, watching me observing the place for its uniqueness. She then pointed up, so I looked up.

Blue. The vast blue sky was up there, white little clouds floating away. The green leaves framed the sky portrait. If I recall, humans enjoy simple things like this. And being _half_ human, I could relate to that, as I was feeling calm watching that view.

"It's much prettier at night." The girl had taken a seat in front of me, still gazing upwards. She still clutched on to her bag tightly. The trees around her gave her shade from the sun, making this place a great spot to just lie down and relax. "A lot of stars are in the sky."

"I see..." My nose started working. And I could smell the aromatic scent of freshly baked food coming from her. That bag must be filled with food, I wonder what's inside. A loud growl snapped me to reality.

She giggled. I turned red. I didn't notice my stomach needed food desperately. "Would you like to join me for tea?"

"... Sure..."

* * *

><p>"OW!" I yowled. The sting of sterilization was terribly painful. The burn continued to feel more painful when she dabbed more of the cold liquid over the rest of my wrist. I could only let out a hiss of irritation, trying to hold back.<p>

"Then we wrapped the wound with a clean cloth." She instructed as she demonstrated the next step of simple first aid. Her hands skillfully went over and under my own, covering the wound quickly. As I watched, I could compare how small they are with my own. And soft too - mine was rugged, decked with some old faint scars and bruises. "Done."

"Thanks." I withdrew my hand from her own as I sink my teeth into another of the steam buns she had offered me. It was hot and just delicious. Well, most of the time I had eaten were just meat (sometimes raw) or wild plants. I never did take the chance to learn how to cook.

Suddenly, I noticed she was staring at me. It felt awkward, so I stared back. "... Do you need something..?"

"No. It's just that.. Are you a human? Or a demon? I can't tell.." I felt amazed to her words. She was the first human, no. The first person ever to ask me that. I just snickered.

"Both. I'm half human. Half demon." She stared at me from head to toe giving a low moan of understanding.

"Are you also a traveler?"

"You can put it that way." I replied. It was kind of the truth, right? I don't like staying at one place so long, and I've been constantly moving here and there for bounty hunts and all. Her eyes then lit up, and it freaked me out.

"Can I join you then?"

"No." Instantly, I replied to her and she whined sadly. I know I've been traveling alone and I know that my money wasn't enough to feed me, let alone two people. And I especially know if I just bring this girl along, her parents would be worried and have wanted posters of me everywhere and I might end up dead. Humans were always like that.

But she was different that other humans. She wanted to travel with me, a total stranger and a half breed.

"Please! I won't be a burden! I know how to make my own food in the wild!" She begged. "I'm a healer too! I can do all sorts of curing magic!"

Interesting. But there was still something that bugged me.

"Why do you want to join me?"

"Because I want to see the world~" She sang lightly. Then her face darkened. "And both mama and papa already left so I live alone."

So they died. And she wants companionship now. I sighed, patting her head. Her long hair was really smooth.

"I got a job just further up. When I finish, I'll return to pick you up. so finish all your business here by then, alright?" She smiled, nodding happily. I decided to do so. Because she might just go ask another stranger with bad, and perverted, intentions and I'll feel like it's my fault. And I know those kind of feelings was a burden to life.

She shoved her hand in front of me, demanding a hand shake. I don't really know why humans do this, but I shook her hand anyways. "It's a deal then. You come back here after that job and meet me here. Then we'll travel together~"

".. Fine."

"I'm _always_ here. Even nights. Unless it rains or I run out of steam buns.." The girl went on and on about her being here. Apparently, she _'lives'_ here, sleeping outdoors and all. "Oh.. What's your name?"

"Rufus Wild."

"Mine's Melt. Just Melt."

* * *

><p>I sat under the moonlit sky. Melt didn't lie about it being beautiful when its at night. It's very calming to gaze at the stars that glittered the black sky, especially after a long successful week of bounty hunting.<p>

Hours seemed to have passed. What took that girl so long? Didn't she say she'd even sleep here? But she did say she returns to town to stock up her steam buns. Then I wondered why they were so delicious. Thinking of them made me feel a little hungrier. As if I could smell them right under my nose.

Then it hit me. I sat up, looking around me and taking a deep whiff. There were faint scents of steam buns. This got me feeling concerned, so I stood and decided to take a look around. No sooner, I had my answer.

"Damn it.." I muttered, gazing down a torn up bag, just miles away from the secret spot. The steam buns were scattered around, half eaten by passing wild animals. Around, were many signs of a struggle. There were broken twigs on the floor and crushed dead leaves that made foot prints. And I could also scent the smell of blood. But it didn't stop there. I saw little traces of burn marks on the cloth of the bag.

They were dead familiar to me.

Burn marks of blue flames.

* * *

><p><em>Back to Third POV<em>

"From there, I tried to track down both Melt and the blur flames. Then when I heard that there was an occult near by the town, I went for it. I arrived too late, just when they were halfway to completing the ritual to bring Kaze'Aze into this world with the blue flames. I interrupted them by distorting their chantings and destabilizing the vessel so Kaze'Aze couldn't possess Melt. When it was all over, the blue flames just disappeared and Melt had become... What _he_ is now.."

The brunette sighed, placing his hand over his eyes as he let out another silent curse. But the thief, now facing the bounty hunter, stared at him. He was wielding such a cold, melancholic expression that was filled with regrets. Maybe it was because they were really brothers but Lass could understand what he said, what he was feeling. He didn't know how, but he just did.

Rufus was clearly blaming himself that he didn't take Melt along before that dreadful incident happened. And now, the only way the brunette could seek his redemption was to save the half beast from the darkness.

".. Idiot.."

"What?"

Lass paused, rethinking his words. He turned away from the brunette. "You're just like me... Idiots who don't realize that we need someone else to save ourselves.. That we're not alone in this world.."

Rufus looked back at the silverette curiously, his eyebrows raised in amazement. He switched into a different lying position, on his side and his back facing Lass' own. The bounty took his time thinking of his brother's words before he felt much calmer, much comfortable than the regretful depression of his.

"No no, say the _other_ one again.. One where you called yourself an idiot."

"Shut up" The brunette snickered softly with the silverette. But the moment stayed short as Lass brought them back to the serious business. "Then about me with the blue flames..?"

"I'll have to kill you to get them.." Silence roamed above them as the tension grew. Rufus sighed to destroy it. "But I _guess_ I can let you live_ longer_..."

"You are pitying me.."

"Of course. You're pathetic." The silverette growled in irritation as the bounty hunter laughed. Rufus then stuttered silently to Lass. "So.. I answered your question, now you answer mine.." The thief grunted in acknowledgment. The bounty hunter took a gulp. "Well.. You and that mage girl.. Are you two.. Really.."

"N-no..!" Lass immediately muttered back. Feeling embarrassed. "She's a friend!... Ah... Um..."

"Oh... I see.." Rufus turned as red as his brother, the silence just seems to tell the two the rest of the sentence. "I'll.. Rethink on joining the Grand Chase after we save Melt..."

"Huh?" Lass sat up in surprise, looking over the brunette. He was already sound asleep, softly snoring away. Eyebrows raised, the silverette grunted and went to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter practically spells boring to me... o-o<strong>  
><strong>Where are my battle scenes?<strong>

**Anyways, I apologize for the slight RufusxOC-ish.. I didn't mean for it to be like that - I just look at it as if they're really close friends... And I imagined Rufus to be some what innocent, being a loner and all.** **I'm sorry... I'm taking psychology classes and figuring out his personality based on his past..**


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm not entirely sure to consider this chapter as an official chapter.  
>But still... I typed it down like...So fast... Reason : Currently, I still don't have a life out of my computer.<br>And I'm proud of it X3  
>... Yeaaah... I'll probably start school soon... 3<br>**

**But... FFFFFFFFFF... This chapter is like... to me.. so... FFFFFudge...**

* * *

><p><em><span>Som<span>eone's POV_

I stretched my arms as far as I could as the noises of two boys rang into my ears. Who knew taking care of them was tiring. When I finally stood, they immediately pounced on to me, making me fall with them. Annoying brats.

_'Get off me!'_ I yelped, though I knew they wouldn't understand me. Scratch that. They _couldn't_ understand me at all. I kicked them off me, making them tumble over each other. At first they looked at me innocently, before they made an evil grin and tackled me down. These two... They may look like cute little angels, but they're just plain _EVIL!_

Actually, the older of the boys-about 2 years- was half demon. So I could understand if he did become evil. But the younger one-a year old- was human - I think.. He looked human anyways. Yet the influence of the older brother was the sole reason he's growing evil as well. I grunted. If I could, I would make sure I'd raise them to be good little boys.

Though without me raising my voice, they had already snuggled on to my body, curling up into little balls and sleeping on me. I felt at ease, these two boys really do like having their afternoon naps on me. I took a sniff of them-a calming scent of woodland. I rested my head on the younger one, he was closer to my head, watching over them.

These two. They were like my own kin. But they were my masters. Nevertheless, I love them. I want to protect them, for the rest of my life..

The older brother grunted, clutching tightly on to my leg. His nails were sharp, but not enough to hurt me. I purred over him, soothing him as he continued to peacefully snore. The younger one was much more quiet, hugging me by my arm. Ahh.. If only time could just freeze. I wouldn't mind it if these two were so innocent forever. Soon enough, I felt into slumber myself.

* * *

><p>I purred next to my master. He had grown into a sturdy, smart little five year old boy, and had a pretty face if you ask me. I could imagine his older brother well built like he was. Yes, <em>imagine<em>. His brother had left a few years ago so suddenly, before my master had reached his second year. It was a shame he had forgotten who his older brother was. Then we could go out of this boring town to search for him.

He was discriminated badly, being half demon. The younger one, however, was treated differently by the people, much kinder. I didn't like how the other people see these brothers, but I couldn't show my anger. I was different from them, much weaker than them. These people could easily kill me on the spot. And I knew I still had my reasons to live whilst both my masters were alive.

In the end, the older brother left. He couldn't stand being treated like a defile monster and went to search his own kin as far as I understood. But he loved his brother, I know he does. I knew he loved me too, being so over affectionate when he decided to leave. I remember giving him my collar, so he wouldn't forget us. And even though he spoke to me with such foreign language, I can tell what he wanted me to do.

_'Stay by my brother's side for me.'_

My master patted me on a good spot as I came back into this world. I shut my eyes in bliss as he continued to do so, purring loudly. My influence on him was good, the way I see it, being so calm and collected. Yet it felt depressing that these two brothers had to be apart.

It made me jolt when he suddenly stood up, but I kept my ground next to him. He beaconed me to follow, and so I did. It seems to me he wanted to see those funny looking people in the huge yellow and red striped tents. If I remember, they were called a 'circus'. I didn't get a good vibe around them, so I decided to stick close to my master.

Though, that night, the town was engulfed in flames.

_'Where are you, Master?' _I screamed, searching each street. The town was on fire, burning madly without hesitation. My master disappeared from my sights so suddenly. This was not good. Situations like this was never good at all.

_'Have you seen my Master? Anyone seen my Master?'_ I yelped at the people beside me, they did not care for me. They were worried about themselves. Of course. They couldn't understand me at all.

I was a mere dog.

The smoke had dulled my senses to sniff his scent. My eyes were in intense pain when dusts of ashes made their way on them, I was blinded. Damn it! The only thing that works is my fire resistant body and my voice. But even if I used my voice, no one could understand me.

I'm useless.

* * *

><p>It's been years since that incident. My vision has been blurry since then, not that they were good in the first place, and my nose is pretty much damaged since then-I can't smell anything right. And my master, he's been long gone. So was that circus. I've always thought he might have escaped with that circus, though it was still nerve wreaking that I didn't know what really happened to him. Even more than that, I felt like I was killed inside.<p>

I couldn't protect my master. Let alone find him. I couldn't even fulfill his brother's wishes to stay by my master's side.

I'm pathetic. A pathetic, useless dog.

"You aren't pathetic at all." I didn't bother to turn my head, knowing my eyes were bad already, so I flicked my ear, showing I was paying attention. This voice wasn't someone I recognize, someone out of town. And I know it didn't belong to my kind. It sounded like a human-I haven't heard a human who could talk my language in a long time. But I was more surprised that he was paying attention to my mind's thoughts. He gave a brief chuckle before he continued on his rambles. "Your soul is a good one. Powerful and beautiful."

I grunted to those words. Flattery won't do you good with me. It pretty much _pissed me off._

"But with a much stronger, stable human body, you could be perfect." I flickered my ear again, my tails twitched in excitement. _Me_, with a stronger and stable human body? This guy seems like he knows what he's talking. But stuff like that were just to suspicious. Then again, if I _had_ a human's body, I could find my master...

_'A human body sounds good, but what's the deal...?' _I barked to him, not wanting to face him - There was no point since my sight's dead. I heard a faint chuckle from him-it was irritating me.

"Just serve our Queen."

_'That's it?'_

"That's all."

* * *

><p>"Owch... My head is pounding..." I grunted, feeling feverish. That damned man, hitting me by the head with a club. And I can't believe myself, getting conned so easily by a human. I-<p>

I could see fingers, pale little human fingers, right at the end of my arms. Looking down, I saw a male human body. No fur, no tails, no pointed ears. Heck, I saw little strands of turquoise hair that curtained my eyes, and I knew they were mine. I was actually a human! I couldn't help but laugh in glee. "This is great! I can find my master now!"

Though, even when I was clouded in bliss, I could tell my situation was pretty awkward. For starters, I was just naked. I bet that bastard was just too cheap to spend money on me, though now I know why humans wear clothes - this feels surprisingly cold! And secondly, I was in a huge, empty white room. Where the Hell does this person find places like this? And only one blank door. Was this place going to be where I meet their so called Queen? Come to think of it, who is their Queen?

Having nothing else to do, I decided to open the lone door. There was something peculiar about it, I didn't need to be a dog to feel a bad vibe behind it. But nothing else lies around here. I touched the doorknob.

It was cold. But that wasn't the reason why I was taken aback. I jolted because I saw thick black liquid, oozing its way through the gaps of the door. But on further inspection, I calmed down, seeing that it seems to be painting the room black and nothing to do with hurting me.

Anyways, back to the door. I still want to find out what's happening around here. I grabbed on to the doorknob and-

"WOAH!" I yelped, jumping away from the door as soon as I felt a dangerous tremor. The black stuff just zapped back into where it came from, leaving the room white again-as if nothing happened at all. This is seriously getting on to my nerves. "What do you have against me, you stupid door!"

Quickly, I grabbed on to that doorknob, this time, I braced myself for whatever crap that it was going to do to throw me off. Instead, I felt my head bursting. A scream ringing into my ears, just making me suffer. But that voice, I could tell he was suffering as well.

_'I'm.. Scared..'_

This time, I was sure it came from behind the door. Without hesitation, I pulled the door open. I got the fright of my life when I saw what was beyond the white door was actually pitch black. A pit of darkness, sinking deeper. And in the midst of that abyss, was a little boy. Pale all over with such terrified turquoise eyes that was filled with tears. I couldn't just watch him fall any further.

I reached out my hand towards him, my other hand was tightly gripping the doorknob of terror. I yelled at him to grab on to me as my arm magically extended itself to him. Don't ask me how! I don't even know if that was possible! He didn't notice it at all, slowly fading away. I tried my best to reach out even further, trying to just latch on his hair, _anything _of him for that matter.

"AAAAAAAAAARGH!" I screamed as I took hold of his arm. It was painful, holding on to him, a mind blowing force rampaged in me. But my yowls of agony was nothing compare to the boy's shriek of pains. He was feeling it too, this agonizing torture. It took all my strength to pull him out of that Hellish pit, slamming the door shut. I stumbled back on to my bottom, he landed on me. I felt numb-It must have been the after side of that sudden intense shock.

But my shock didn't end there, no. The boy had fainted on me, but he was different than before. His turquoise hair had lightened up into soft sky blue. And his skin literally turned white. There were streaks of red and blue all over him. Three tails had grown on his lower back, and pointed ears jutted out of his hair. It was like looking at a personification version of my previous body. I scratched my head, trying to figure what had happened when I realized them.

My pointed ears were back, and I could feel my tails flickering. I looked at my hands, they were still human, but they turned white with red and blue stripes. I was like the exact copy of this boy. This _half beast._

"What.. happened..?"

* * *

><p>"Nnnn..." The boy next to me woke up, lazily sitting up. He yawned and stretched his arms out before making a perky smile at me. "Night~"<p>

"Good Evening." I replied, watching him scratch his head with a sheepish grin. This blue haired next to me was called Melt. And that was the only thing he knew about himself, as if he had no other personal memories. We both live together in this white empty room that had no doors or windows like normal roommates. Except that whenever Melt sleeps, he controls our body. Sadly, I still can't take control of our body.

Yes, our body.

It seems we are souls, living in the same body. I'm not entirely sure for what purpose, but Melt said something to do with becoming a sacrifice to some Queen. Lucky that bastard was dead, otherwise I'd skin him alive and rip him to oblivion. Although, it's my fault I fell for his damned trick, I'm not that angry to be with Melt, even if I couldn't control the body. Frankly, I felt a little blessed.

"I hug Rafas," Melt yipped, his tails wagged happily. I chuckled at his innocence. It seems when Melt woke up with our body, he found a bounty hunter that went by the name Rufus Wild, selfishly claiming _us_ as his own pet. He was a male brunette with crimson eyes, claiming that he was a half demon. I recognized who he was straight away.

"That's good. Did he turn red?"

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!" Melt sang that word out again and again. I snickered at the thought of that half demon's flustered face. This was my way of getting my revenge from being pounced on every time I stood. I controlled Melt's innocence to torture that guy. And to hear successful reports back was pretty much interesting to me (By the way, it's my fault Melt's calling him Rafas). This was a blessing from the creator to me.

And another blessing was that Melt was with Rufus. That also meant I was with him. I was happy that I was reunited with Rufus. My former master. But I was still feeling agitated knowing he was near. He who I had promised with to stay with his younger brother. And the fact I don't know what had happened to him was still so irritating in my heart.

"Rafas say he alone. No brother..." Melt continued to tell me the rest of his day. I nodded to him. I had previously asked the boy to question Rufus' past, especially about a brother. To me, he seems to have forgotten all about his little brother. Who could blame him, he was so young when he left to go on his lone quest.

"I see..." I suddenly felt fingers shoved into my mouth, forcing it to be stretched.

"No sad." Melt continued to _'make me smile'_. I nodded so he'd let me go and gave him a brief fake smile to satisfy him. I should really watch how I express myself around Melt. He was quite an observer, even for his young age. When the young boy left my face alone he tilted his head, letting his ears flop over. "Why sad..?"

"You should ask me if I felt sad before you tell me not to be sad, you know." I advised the boy as he nodded, yet he was eager to know why I felt such. I guess it doesn't hurt to tell the boy. After all, we were going to live in the same body for the rest of our lives. Besides, Melt was pretty good at keeping secrets, considering the fact he hasn't told Rufus I exists in him - I told Melt not to tell so I can mess with that brunette. "Don't tell Rufus, okay. He actually has a younger brother."

"Owh~! How he look?" The young half beast had his ears perked up, not wanting to miss every detail about his master's younger brother.

"I don't know how he looks like now.. But he has stunning silver hair and beautiful sapphire eyes" I know that I was smiling, just remembering that calming past when I was still taking care of the two boys when they were young. It was my favorite memory.

"Un~ Rafas have pretty brother!" He yelped happily, feeling giddy that he learned something new. Though, Melt stopped bouncing around the room and shut his mouth with both his hands. "Rafas not tell.."

"Good. Don't tell him yet.." He'll find it suspicious if Melt knew about this, as well as try to discover about me. Though, it still kept me feeling unease that I never knew what happened to my master. Maybe in a few more years, when Melt's older, and stronger, we'll seek for him. The boy suddenly felt woozy, as he started to crawl onto his knees. I guess it's already morning outside. The amount of time passes in this room was completely random, in this case, it was quick. "Time to wake up, Melt. You don't want to make Rufus angry, do you?"

"Y-yeah." He yawned lazily, curling up next to me. "Day~"

"Good Morning."

* * *

><p>"Wake up~!" I blinked open when Melt shook me. He was wearing a scared expression. This wasn't a usual thing, so I sat up.<p>

"What happened, Melt?" I asked the boy, only to see him whimper under my arms, tails twitching in between his legs. He pointed to what was in front of him, to what was at my right. And I was bewildered at the sight.

There was a door. That fearsome door just appeared there. And we both knew what lied behind it. The abyss of darkness.

"Keep close to me, Melt." I crept towards it, keeping my guard up as he clutched behind me. There was that weird vibe coming from that door. I hesitated to touch the doorknob, remembering its evil. When I did touch it, I jumped back in surprise, Melt followed my action.

The door just swung open by itself. It was still dark in there, nothing but pitch black. I kept my guard up, keeping my claws ready, but I was worried about my fighting abilities - I hadn't had a chance to fight ever since my soul took this form. I couldn't spar with Melt, it'd be like fighting yourself, and that was weird.

Out of the darkness, a short figure made its appearance in the midst of that darkness. Curly violet hair, bloodshot eyes. A girl with a twisted smile, smoothly walking towards us. She smirked dangerously to us, sending shivers down our spines. I could hear Melt whined in fear behind me, gripping on to me tightly and feeling his nails deep into my skin.

"Ah.. So there were two of you.." She stayed solitary in that black room, her creepy smile continued to stay fixed on her face. "Looks like one of you could keep this much of my powers..."

".. Who the Hell are you...? How the Hell are you able to be here..?" I growled back at her when I felt Melt tremble more than ever. This girl had bad news all over her. I had a hand on the door, ready to slam in shut so it could never be opened again.

"My name was forgotten when the attempt to bring the Queen to this world with this body was interrupted in the outside world. Now, I am but a mere fragment of her dark powers that linger in this body."

"Forgot-ten name? Queen? Powers?" Melt's sudden change of heart towards the girl was ignorant, innocent and down right dumb. He was too childish, being curious to what candy this girl can offer him. I was mentally older than he was, even when we had the same bodies, so I kept my guard up. I didn't trust her at all, considering she had mentioned that she was the remnants of this Queen's powers.

I could recall Melt telling me our body was a sacrifice to the Queen.

"Yes. But if you remember my name, you can use her dark powers... You can be the most powerful being that walked this world."

"Well, too bad we don't _'remember'_ your name." I forced the door shut, I didn't like where it was going. Dark powers.. Those are things we need the least, scratch that. We don't _need_ it at all. The half beast still looked over my shoulder, gazing blankly at the door. I tore that connection apart, leading him back to where we were sleeping - in the middle of the room. "Melt. Tell Rufus about that girl, okay.."

"Huh..? But no speak of white room..?"

"Just tell him about the girl only."

"Okay..." He nodded back to me with a lazy yawn, stumbling on to his knees. The boy fell asleep the moment he curled himself up properly, waking up on the outside world. Hopefully, when Melt tells Rufus about this girl, he might know how to deal with her.

I kept watch over the sleeping beast, staying close to him. But I can feel that door still stayed there, knowing that girl was still in there, waiting.

* * *

><p>The room quaked treacherously as I kept holding the sleeping Melt close to me. Something tragic must have happened in the outside world. If only I could see what was outside. If only I could take control to help Melt. I gripped tightly to my companion when I felt him shiver uncontrollably.<p>

"HAAAAA!" Melt jolted up into this room, breathing rapidly, panic strikened. He must have fainted in fear. Tears began to well up on his emerald eyes. "Rafas... Rafas... Uuuuuhh.. Monsters... around Rafas.. and Melt.."

"He needs me..." I shot a glare to the origin of that voice. That girl, shrouded in darkness, peeked through the opened door. She kept an emotionless face, watching us.

"Get lost! We don't need your dark powers! They won't do good to anyone!"

"Remember my name. And you can save your friend."

"Shut up! I _believe_ in Rufus! I know he can protect Melt!"

"You won't feel so useless any more..."

Those words pierced through my heart. My wounds reopening as I remembered that terrible night, being so powerless and distorted, unable to find my master. I hated that word. I hated that past. I hated it all.

".. Melt... wants.. Help Rafas..." I froze in my place, seeing the younger boy accepting her so easily. "Help Rafas.."

"Then remember my name. Call it out with your might. Remember the name that was given to me. To you."

"Melt.. Regina.. Tenebrae.."

Melt stuttered out that name, rising away from me. His emerald eyes faded to a shade of dark viridian. I know something was wrong here. I grasped hold on the boy's waist, pulling him away from that trance. Yet he did not falter, rather, I had no power over Melt, my strength could not compete against his will to walk to her, as if he was dragging me with him. That girl beaconed him to come closer, reaching out her arms to him.

"Say it again. Yell it out. Scream it until your throat is sore."

"Melt Regina Tenebrae.. Melt Regina Tenebrae.. MELT REGINA TENEBRAE!" The boy kept repeating that name again and again, each time louder and louder. And each step he took, his pace hastened, approaching that girl from outside that room. I dug my nails in him, hopefully the pain would wake him up. But I couldn't even make him flinch.

Instead, Melt threw me off, my body shot right across the room, slamming on to the wall. The pain that throbbed in my head got me feeling dizzy, but I couldn't just watch Melt just go into that darkness. I staggered up to my feet, putting aside the pain in me. When I looked up, my eyes were locked with the viridian that stared back at me. "This is wrong.. Melt.. Darkness will consume you.. It won't save anyone.."

"Melt need powers.." He spat back as he entered into that room, slamming the door behind him. And I was left alone.

The image of that girl's satisfied look burned into my memory.

* * *

><p>Silently, I lied on the floor. It was cruel. This solitude in this empty room was killing me. I don't know what was happening in the outside world. How many days had passed? How many moons had lit the night sky? Was Rufus alright when Melt gave in to that girl? Or has Melt been corrupted the moment she controlled him? The questions buzzed through my mind, floating uneasily, unanswered. This feeling of not knowing was terrifying.<p>

I closed my eyes, hoping that slumber would act as my solace. Though, it felt hard, sleeping just like that, so I blinked open my eyes. But I saw something else, different than the usual white ceiling that bore me.

It was blue. The vast sky above me was blue. And clouds, lofting away with the wind. I could smell the evergreen trees. Sitting up, I took a good look at my surroundings. This was the outside world.

"Melt? You're awake?" A brunette approached me from behind, patting my head on a good spot. He possessed red eyes, those eyes I knew so well.

"R.. Rufus?" Unconditionally, I stuttered out his name. Realizing such, I bit my lips, feeling stupid. Though, the brunette didn't seem to notice me calling him his original name and not the way Melt says it.

"Usually, you'd sleep longer you know." He chuckled. In his hand was a plastic bag. "I've returned from that town with those steam buns you like."

"Yay~" I felt stupid, yelling out like that. Who knew acting like Melt was hard. But he was taken back from my action. That was strange. Yet he showed a relieved smile back at me. I was more than surprised when he hugged me.

"Damn it, Melt. I thought you'd never smile like that again." From the corner of my eye, I could see his pointed ears red. I knew he was blushing madly, though his face was buried on my neck. But what did he mean by that, by the fact Melt wouldn't smile like this again? I thought of what Melt would have done in this situation, pushing him off me.

"No sad." I stretched his lips apart, trying to make him smile, mimicking what Melt had done to me once. He took out my fingers, keeping that smile on his face. I tilted my head, making my ears flop over me. "Why sad..?"

Rufus couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not sad anymore, Melt. I'm happy. Very happy to see you go back to normal."

Back to normal? What the heck? Before I could let out another word, I felt my own words choking me, stuck in my throat. What was happening?

"Melt? You alright?" His face faded away in the darkness as I shut my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw the white ceiling again. And Melt standing above me.

No. This isn't Melt. He looked like Melt, but he was shrouded in a mist of black clouds. His eyes were still darkened, looking down on me.

"Who gave you rights to use this body?"

"Who are you? What happened to Melt? What's going on?" I barked at him, demanding answers. He stared at me with an emotionless expression. Though, I felt paralyzed when he made a sinful smile.

"I'm Melt, don't you recognize me? And what's going on is that I need more space for my power to claim my desired world. So..." He punched my gut without hesitation. I collapsed on to the ground, blood pouring out of my mouth. As I fell, so did the walls of the white room, they were engulfed by the darkness. The ceiling dispersed, and the floor was encroached by the black plague.

"Screw this. I won't be part of this madness!" I yowled at him, thrashing him away from me. The darkness halted their advances. Leaving only a small white pillar which I stood on. 'Melt' was floating in that darkness, still keeping that screwed up face of his.

He turned away from me, disappearing back into his shrouded world. Leaving me alone.

The darkness consumed him and now he wants to claim this '_desired world_'...

And I couldn't do anything.

No.. I finally grasped on to this body..

I will protect my master. No. My _masters_, where ever they are, from this so called _desired world_.

Even if this was my last act in my life, I want to keep protecting them.

* * *

><p><strong>FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUDGEEEEE!<strong>  
><strong>This is sooooooo not real... SO NOT PART OF THE REAL GC PLOT D:<strong>  
><strong>But who cares! XD This is a freakin FanFic! Any effing thing can happen! Weeeee~<strong>

**So.. By now you can guess who's the other person in Melt, the reason I've made Melt have such a unique appearance. Ehehehe... If you can't.. D:  
><strong>**I've drawn Melt and posted him somewhere in the internet... I forgot where... ._.  
>Kazedoggeh loves his masters. Yes he does.<strong> **=3  
><strong>


	15. Chapter 15

Bam.

The sudden loud sound of the Rune caster's thick book slamming to the ground caught the attention of all the travelers, jolting them out of their shoes. Mari blinked blankly as she fixed her glasses, bending down to grab her grimmoire.

"Something wrong, Mari?"

"Although my theory for the subject called Melt is still so far from completion, I am surprised to the conclusions I have made so far." All eyes are on the blue haired girl now, curious to her late discovery. Mari took one long look to all her comrades that surrounded her before she adjusted her spectacles again.

"Master Dio had told me that powers sealed in oneself is limited to an amount, only to increase when going through years of training and such. I believe Melt is still to young to do so, thus his memories - If Melt had stated the truth of his past in Victor's castle - were wiped out to increase capacity for Kaze'Aze's use. The alteration of his body in to a male's body would also be another act to support such reason."

"Forcing the darkness that was Kaze'Aze required more than just a simple ritual. The blue flames that Rufus had once spoke of much have been used to harness more energy for Kaze'Aze to be brought into this world. But due to an interruption in the ritual - that was Rufus' well being barging in and murdering all - It must have been destabilized, causing Melt's body to deform into what he is now, a half beast."

"The remaining blue flames had then automatically been used themselves to keep the remnants of Kaze'Aze's powers in Melt's body. In this case, it would be the personification of a young Kaze'Aze in Melt, based on Rufus' story about Melt's first encounter with the dark powers. Melt must have known this and had said that Kaze'Aze had already died." The rune caster took a deep breath after her endless speech. There were light murmurs about how Mari was so good at holding her breath.

"Alright." The elven bowman had raised her arm involuntarily, like a student and teacher in a class. "Does this mean Kaze'Aze was.. Never in Melt? _Just_ the darkness..?"

"I believe that is what I said, yes. It seems that all this time, Me-"

BAM.

The smoke from the barrel lulled around before it wandered away into the air. The eyeteeth were aimed a few inches from the rune caster's forehead, just slightly brushing her silky, short hair on both sides. Mari remained calm and very emotionless as she took eye contact to the bounty hunter in front of her. He held his standoffish-like appearance, yet his ruby eyes were furiously burning in nothing but rage, running amok inside of him.

"Damn it, kid! What's your problem?" Seighart had his Soluna raised to eye level, just a thrust away from Rufus' skull.

The brunette did nothing but peer coldly at the rune caster. He took a short glance on each of everyone's bewildered faces. Rufus merely grunted in irk, pocketing back his eyeteeth as he turned away. They all could tell why he was so outraged inside of him. They knew what Mari was about to say.

He's feet stomped harshly on the ground, exerting as much of his anger out. Nevertheless, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. The ruby eyes turned to meet sapphire, his eyes were burning in madness as well, yet a calming solace of understanding stood in the midst of that furious fire. The bounty hunter did nothing but sigh before his brother.

"It hurts, but we've got to face the truth.."

"... I know, I know..." In that short moment, Rufus calmed down. He knew so well how the truth hurts so much, he didn't want to even hear it. "... I know the truth hurts. That's why I can't even _stand_ knowing you're my brother..."

"Shut your trap and I'll keep my nodachi sheathed." Lass joked with his brother, seeing the rage extinguished into nothingness.

"Awww~ How cute~ But can't you two get a room? Your brotherly love stuff is getting creepy..." Elesis scoffed, watching the drama in disgust. She got a knife and a bullet in return. Mari blinked silently, finding an opening where she could continue her discoveries.

"Melt had been consumed by the overpowering darkness."

* * *

><p>"H-hey guys..." Ryan stuttered as he peered closely to two figures just in the horizon. "What in Mother nature's name is that?"<p>

Ley gave an uncaring glance. "Looks like.. Gaikoz and Gardosen?"

"What? But we've sent them back into their graves! You must be mistaken!" Ronan spurted out yet he unsheathed his spell sword quickly.

"Hold on tyke," Seighart ceased the spell knight's advances. "Observe them will you? And don't stick so close to my great granddaughter."

Elesis felt a little amazed that her ancestor was beginning to act more fatherly and overprotective of her, shoving the blue haired man away from her, though she some how grew uncomfortable that Ronan was inches further from her.

"Her hardheadedness is starting to rub on you. And I don't think you'll fit with the name _'Blue'_." The crimson haired girl went back to her irritated, hot headed self, hitting both men. Again when they both agreed that she was stubborn and not so bright.

_'That old man will always be that old man... And isn't Ronan's the one who should be careful that the old man's idiocity might rub off on to him... Jeez...'_

Meanwhile, the rest witnessed the two dark powers, standing tall before each other. The samurai seemed so surreal to them, his rhythmic breathings, his slightly flustered face. Yet the Hellish Lord was so vague and misty, as if he was nothing but a lingering spirit, seeking his way to the afterlife.

"Gaikoz! How dare you go against me. You foolish samurai!" Gardosen bellowed, slashing his sword directly on to the smaller opponent. Nevertheless, Gaikoz did not flinch, he didn't even move a muscle as the jagged blade went through him like smoke.

"You are the foolish one. Trying to fight me who had obtained both flesh and all, with mere air." The samurai snickered, slicing the ghost before him by the waist. "Do!*".

He collapsed on to his knees. Gardosen knew where the battle was going to end, especially knowing the samurai knew exorcism. "Gaikoz. I am your superior! Cease your attacks and your third life won't end as brutally as your last..."

"My third life lives solely to serve my highness, Melt. And it seems, his first commands were to wipe out the rest of the former Queen's generals." Gaikoz attempted his most dangerous assault, one which gave nightmares to the Grand Chase when they first faced the ghost samurai in his own horrifying castle.

The samurai leaped forward, muttering what seems like gibberish to the Grand Chase, and disappeared into thin air. A series of cuts and slashes of the steel blade all over the Hellish Lord flashed rapidly and violently. He vanished just after his wails echoed ghastly away, leaving the silent killer landing on his feet gently. His sword clicked quietly when sheathed back into its scabbard.

"... I-I don't remember Gaikoz being that powerful..." Arme stuttered, almost choking on her own words due to the fear growing in her. Her beloved companion, Lire, took her by her waist and closed into her and comforted her in ways only best friends could.

"It seems that Gardosen hasn't fully materialized into this world yet, and therefore still a spirit. Gaikoz, however, is human. Thus the huge contrast." Ley corrected the mage. She floated above her, paying more attention to the lone samurai. "And... I think he just noticed us..."

The summoner readied her weapon, just as the rest of the travelers when they heard her warning. Although Gaikoz had gazed upon them, he quickly turned away, ignoring their presence and clearly dashing towards Kaze'Aze's Castle.

"What the-?"

"I believe he said his only orders were to only wipe out the former generals.." Ronan recalled the swordsman's words.

"But that's not stopping me from destroying him again! We'll have to wipe him out later on anyways!" Elesis rushed ahead. This had only proven to Ronan, and Seighart, and the rest, how much of a hardheaded person she was. The scarlet haired girl blocked out all the cries of protests from her comrades. "Gaikoz! I challenge you to a death match! Face me now!"

"I have not time for brats like you..." The samurai hissed back in irk, yet he twisted his body to face the smaller opponent.

"I don't care how many times you were brought back to life with those blasted Kaze'Aze's dark powers! I'll kill every single being that refuses to die!" The knight howled in rage, raising her sword to use her personal favorite 'Mega Slash'. Everyone who heard her words merely felt stupefied - The knight was really doing this because she had grown to hate immortals, specifically her own ancestor, Seighart. The older man merely grunted in interest, feeling amused.

"Kaze'Aze's dark powers? Hmph. You are mistaken. I was brought back by his highness, Melt's own dark powers. He who fully took control of them and claiming them his very own, from the very beginning. He who will use it to bring forth the desired world!" Gaikoz laughed sinisterly, dodging the reckless knight's series of assaults. The samurai had enough of the vain strikes and took out his sword, aiming for her head. "Men!**"

Knocked out, Elesis slammed on the ground harshly. This gave the samurai an opening to escape quickly.

"Third Rate Mage! Check on her! Now!" Seighart yowled, dashing to his descendant's side rapidly. His eyes darkened in a shade of fear, whilst panic loomed at the rest of his face.

"She's alright! Just a huge bump on her head." The purple teen replied hastily after she took a brief scan over her best friend, though irritated as she was called a third rate mage by someone other than the dumb knight.

"Gaikoz had hit her with the blunt side of his sword." A silverette gave a casual glance over the wounded one. He was an expert in the lines of eastern style swordsmanship that Gaikoz practices as well. Especially when his fourth job is a striker, wielding a nodachi. "She'll just feel a huge headache when she wakes up."

"Why didn't he just kill her off? I mean, if I were him, I'd get rid of every single one of us and..." Amy trailed off, sealing away her mouth with her delicate fingers and backed away, feeling a deathly glare from the legendary hero.

"... They want us alive when we get to Kaze'Aze's castle..." Ronan concluded darkly, "as if there's something much more dangerous there waiting for our arrival."

"Though, I'm more concerned on what Gaikoz just said." Dio pointed out to the group. His arms were folded, like where they usually are, and his face were nothing but serious. "Saying those powers belonged to that lousy dog now.."

Rufus flinched in irk, hearing that his pet was called _'lousy dog'_, but he tensed up as well after hearing such words. His eyes darkened, knowing what each and every word meant. And they were much harsher compared to Mari's conclusion earlier on. Nevertheless, Dio could care less whether the half demon dared to attack him or not, he'd spill it out.

"We're not facing that the darkness that consumed that lousy dog. We're up against that lousy dog and his darkness..."

* * *

><p>The rest of the journey towards the castle was awfully quiet but Elesis' loud snoring (It was loud enough to block the footsteps of everyone). All were too occupied in their own deep thoughts and words were not shared amongst themselves.<p>

_'Melt's been the one controlling the dark powers? Then he had been leading us on all along... But what about that night? He was fighting with himself and there was no one around to show it too...'_ Ryan pondered. He refreshed his head as he sighed deeply. _'What was that back then...? Another illusion? A deception?.. Damn it...'_

Similar to the druid, Lass was thinking of Melt's twisted personality as well. Of why he was struggling so much against himself, to the point deep scratches and horrifying gashes appeared all over his own body. _'I guess his past life being a healer had to do with those wounds disappearing so instantly... But still... Mari's theory about someone else inside of Melt is plausible..'_

"Someone else is doing that to Melt. Definitely..." Rufus muttered to the thief, as if to have read and agree to his thoughts. Though the whole time, the bounty hunter had been one who could tell what was going on in Lass' head and vice versa. "I don't believe Melt would do this all at all..."

"Then why do you seem so heart broken?"

"Preparing for every worse case scenario. 'Nuff said."

"I'm on your side." The silverette patted his back lightly. Lass then turned away, muttering silently to himself. "... Brother..."

"Thanks.. Brother..." Rufus smiled back, truly sincere from the depths of his heart. Somehow, in this complicated mess, he felt blessed that he was given a brother. Even if he knew there was a chance they weren't blood related and he had to one day, take responsibility of taking his life. Having that silverette next to him, to support him as a brother was enough.

* * *

><p>"Strange... My calculation seems to be... Odd..." The rune caster glanced in bewilderment into her book, fixing her glasses to ensure none of her fellow friends could see her silly face. Mari then opened a fresh new page, writing hastily all over it.<p>

"What's odd, Mari?" Concerned as always, the spell knight turned back, still carrying a sleeping maiden in heavy armor. His body was getting stiff being under the weight but he was determined to carry the girl. Especially witnessing how sudden the immortal acted protectively earlier on, rousing a sense of possessiveness over the knight inside him.

"The subject Melt. He had wielded much more power, yet his body is too small to contain it all. Even if his memories had been wiped out and his body had gone into massive amounts of alteration to increase capacity."

"T-Then..." Ryan took all attention when his voice seeped out of his mouth. He felt self conscious and uncomfortable at first, but he shook it off. "What if.. There was another soul in the boy?"

"Why would you think of such a thing?"

"W-well...! Because.." The druid stuttered defensively to support his opinion. "I don't think this part was actually explained properly to all of you but... Once.. On that night I brought back a sleeping Melt from hunting... Earlier on, Melt was kind of.. Talking to himself. Fighting and hurting himself as well..."

"That sounds ridi-"

"Melt scratched multiple times to himself in his sleep, on the boat to Silver Land." Lass interrupted, backing up the orange haired man, sending him to a plain of relief that someone was on his side. He recalled the incident perfectly, replaying it in his mind clearly. "He was sleeping peacefully at first, but then he was breathing irregularly and growling. Soon enough he was fighting himself. But his wounds would heal themselves before the next day."

"Interesting.. Rapid healing and a personality disorder..." Mari noted down the new characteristics of the hybrid. "Yet the both of you did not report of this to me earlier on? Never mind, you both had reasons... And Bounty hunter Rufus, have you come across such acts?"

"... Once... He was sleeping as well, before he was growling to himself." The bounty hunter said nothing more. He stood behind the thief, muttering lowly. "When he said he'd be _'using my brother'_ for something..." Lass nodded softly, remembering that one night the two brothers had the deck of the boat to Elia all to themselves.

"Then." The rune caster shut her book. "That is a much more likely scenario. Another soul was put into Melt to increase capacity."

"I see..." Rufus turned away, feeling a little of his burden lifted away.

"Hey, at least there's a chance, right?" Lass tried to cheer him up.

"I'm not as pathetic as _you_ to be so downhearted at every single matter, you know."

"What did you say?"

"I'm not the one who admitted himself an idiot."

"I'll kill you!"

"Try it!"

The thief shoved the bounty hunter to the ground, only to be dragged down himself by his torso. They were fighting again, but it has released the tension that hovered above the travelers, as they laughed at the sibling rivalry.

* * *

><p><strong>One boring chapter -w-"<strong>  
><strong>I'm sorry. I'm not properly motivated recently. It's kind of called school... Just went through my first day today, eheheheh...<br>It seems that there are more people who added this story to their favorites recently... So... um... I kind of feel really elated since I didn't expect this much who'd follow this story ^^ Thank you for your support my people~ hehehehe**

**Next chapter, I guarantee there's action... Hopefully... :3  
><strong>


	16. Chapter 16

"They have arrived, my lord." The swordsman lifted his head, watching the half beast pacing from his left to his right, his tails twitching ever so slightly at every passing second.

He then dragged his feet towards the lonely still throne, his fingers brushed lightly on the ancient frames. "No.. Not yet... Their final destination is the Darkness..."

"Sire?" Gaikoz questioned back to the half beast, "what do you mean?" Melt turned to face the samurai, his shadowy cloak flicked carelessly behind him.

"Sleeping in this Hell of a castle enabled me to gain the rest of the dark powers lofting around. Enough to open the Gate."

The samurai nodded curtly. "I understand my lord. I will lead them to you..." He took a step back as he stood and bowed before he took his leave from the gigantic empty room. With a flash, the samurai disappeared, leaving Melt alone.

"... AAArgh!" The pale fist slammed harshly on to the throne, rupturing its delicate designs. He huffed deeply, rage still overflowed in every bloodstream in him. "Damn it... Why is he following my orders... What the heck is that Gaikoz and that guy planning...?" Furious, the half beast landed another punch on the throne. But the force this time was much more compared to the last, obliterating the chair into smithereens.

"Tch..." He grunted in irk, going back to his earlier pacing. His nerves calmed as the hair on his pelt fell softly. '... My desired world.. is just minutes away... No one can stop me... I have what I want... Then I'll finally...'

"... Rise... The entrance to the deep abyss. The road to the tenaciousness pits..."

* * *

><p>"Melt! Come out and fight us like a man!" The red knight screamed, fists in the air, charged up to fight. Jin, easily influenced by the fighting spirit, followed after Elesis. The Grand Chase had made themselves in front of Kaze'Aze's Castle, just in front of the large ancient gates.<p>

"Idiot! Stop yelling so loud like a maniac." Dio growled fiercely, reminding them that they were here for serious business, there was no time for kid's stuff now.

"Agreed," Seighart nodded with the stygian. A very rare occasion to the whole Grand Chase. "Us mana point users should change into out fourth jobs. Action point users just... Be yourselves.." From there, the gladiator sheathed his Gladius, taking out his beautiful, sleek Soluna and entering his fourth job, the Prime Knight. He couldn't help but let out a slight smirk, feeling proud of his lovely broadsword, knowing like him, it was one of a kind.

"Don't be a show off, old man." Elesis scoffed to the raven haired as she took out her Ssanggeom, the dual swords of her majestic Savior job. She tightened her grip on the two swords, feeling the power within them seeping into her rapidly, accepting her as their only master. They had accompanied her through so much, Elesis was determined to make sure this wouldn't be the last battle they fight on together.

"You're the show off here, Elesis." Arme snickered as she teased her fellow companion. She had already had her War Staff out and floating in the air as she sat on it. Wielding it, she knew her duty as a Battle Mage well, knowing how much strength it possessed, so they were put in front lines, mainly to protect their beloved comrades-in-arms.

"Well.. If Master Seighart says so, then Melt must be quite tough to beat..." Ronan muttered, unsheathing his Tyrfing, an azure sword he loved oh so much, yet ironically loathed to use it as it always meant another evil had risen up from the shadows. He glowed much more in him Abyss Knight job, as the justice that he held inside grew stronger.

"Alright! I won't hold back then!" Jin was feeling much more hyper than usual, the adrenaline had started kicking into his systems, flipping out his Vajra. Seeing them, reminded him of the shadowed past concerning Victor and the fate of the Silver Knights, but it made him more determined to fight in full power, wanting to prevent history to repeat itself again.

"Just don't get into my arrow's path." Lire nudged the peppy Rama as she unveiled her composite bow. It shined in full blast, with the honor that it held. The elf gently touched it, having the utmost pride in it, especially knowing that she was one of the first who wielded the composite bow, having the title Nova. "I'll sweep the floor with this baby by my side."

"As if that will happen. My Storm Blades will kick ass more than you can count." Ryan taunted with the Storm Blades glimmer in delight. The Vanquisher was as excited, ready to eliminate all evil in his path, with the guidance of Dan, with his powerful transformations, and the blessings of Gaia.

"I guess all I have to do is look pretty and shine much brighter than you all." Amy huffed in mischief, flicking her hair to the back of her neck as her Chu-Chu Bag twinkled on her wrist. The Starlet was set on being the biggest star amongst them all, and was not ready to give up the spotlight to someone else.

"I shall assist all with my full strength then.." Mari nodded curtly, blinking slowly as the Soul Stone in her reveals her the secrets of ancient history and transforms her into her ultimate from, one that was just a step close to the deities of the world, La Geas. Her divine powers just sparkled around her, taking the breaths of all who surrounded her.

As all his friends took their chances to enhance their strength, Lass nodded and quickly revealed the sheathed long sword that was his nodachi. His final job, the Striker, was one that stood at the highest rank of all the Dark Assassin Guild, one he was definitely proud of as he earned it with his own pure strength.

"Aww... How unfair that these Mana point users can just show off whist we have to stick to the same weapons..." Ley whined childishly, though she knew well how dangerously powerful she already was with her summoning abilities. "I'd like to try out a different weapon in my hands... How about you Zero?"

"... No... It'll feel like replacing Grandark..." The wanderer shook, gripping tightly on his sword, feeling more possessive over the sword than before. He knew he was created with the sole purpose of wielding Grandark, so why bother wield another sword.

"Cheh... Let's just get over this..." Dio rolled his eyes impatiently, his rake hand twitched irritatingly, craving have his claws deep into layers of skin, feeling the flesh of his opponents. His scythe was on his other hand, smiling grimly over his head, eager to reap and harvest as much heads, or any other body parts. The stygian also had a sword somewhere hidden in his belt, another of his weapons up his sleeves.

"Is this what you people usually do...?" Rufus, being the newbie in the group, felt a little out of place. He wasn't so sure whether he should join in to their meaningless little boasting of their individual weapons and jobs and such, but he knew that his eyeteeth in his pockets, his netherblade hanging lazily on his belt, his Rupture was on the small gun case on his lower trousers and his beautiful rugged Soul Arbiter, just leaning on his back, were enough.

"Don't include me in it.. Only idiots practice such rituals before a major battle..." The stygian muttered to the bounty hunter. He earned himself a harsh whack from the summoner though.

"But I must say, it is quite amusing to watch." The icy voice chilled the air around the Grand Chase. The low voice they knew oh so well floated towards them from above. Gaikoz stood on the tip of the iron gates, a sinister smile across his face. The members of the Grand Chase glared back at him, all ready to strike him and take him down in one go. The samurai continued to smile, then taking his time to step down from the iron bars.

"Gaikoz! We haven't settled our match!" Elesis roared at him.

"As I have said, I rather not waste my time." The samurai taunted, comfortably making his way to the ground. The savior fell into the taunt and tried to slice the samurai in pieces, yet she was halted by the Soluna that stood before her. She backed off, letting a short, silent scowl. "Besides. You are all guests of my lord." He bowed gently, in a butler manner. "He would be delighted to have an audience with all of you. So will you all meet him? Or will you stay?"

Untrustworthy. The word they described the swordsman. Especially with that twisted smile he had continuously kept on his face. "What makes you think we'll just follow you? This is obviously some sort of trap." Ronan spat, going a little off character.

"Trap or not, my current duty is to guide my lord's guest in. Following me will lead you to all the answers. To the truth within the darkness." Gaikoz nodded again, this time, his face was of a serious manner. He turned away from the Grand Chase, heading towards the dying castle.

The group of travelers stared at each other, stared at the lone samurai walking away. Lass gave a glance to his brother. Rufus had the same thoughts as him.

"I'm going."

"Me as well." They walked on. No fear to burden them. No hesitation to drag them back. Just the desire to know the truth. The rest of the Grand Chase had no say to the boys' decision. They had no rights to. They could only follow behind them, supporting their judgment throughout the upcoming ordeal.

* * *

><p>Minutes of walking and tailing the samurai and nothing seemed suspicious at all. Gaikoz had clearly warned the team at every room, where abandoned and unused traps were laid and such. He just didn't seem interested to kill them off. Yet.<p>

"... Damn it.. I think we're going into a trap.. I swear I saw that stupid pillar four times!" Elesis whispered back to Arme. The battle mage rolled her eyes.

"Elesis, all the pillars look the same."

"My point exactly." She groaned. Obviously the Savior had grown bored of just walking. No talking, no joking around. Not even the occasional quarrels between her and the old man. The red haired teen glanced back, her great grandfather was yawning openly, ready to just sleep on the spot. "When is the action already..."

"Just about now, Miss Seighart." Gaikoz halted in front of an enormous door, one he had recently seen quite a number of times. "My lord stands right behind this room."

"Melt is back there? No tricks? No lies?" Lass gave a dark stare to the samurai. Though he wasn't affected by the killer glare.

"As I have said. The truth lies within the darkness."

"Then let's go in."

* * *

><p>"Lunatic Force!"<p>

The frosty orb floated warily in the air, only to break open and unleash its icy wrath on the anmons near to it. The dark troopers froze and shattered in billions of pieces with the ice as the spell knight slashed it with his azure sword. Satisfied with his attack, he immediately sheathed his blade. "It's clear on this side."

"Here as well." The red knight puffed out her chest, proud that she wiped the scene of enemies by her own hands alone, plus a Magic Mallet. Her companion rolled his eyes, dragging his feet in steel plated boots towards her. They now stood in front of a stone hardy gate, slowly raising upwards and revealing a small passage way to the next room.

"Another room..." He sighed heavily. This makes it the fourth time they had to go through a similar situation. A small tunnel that leads them to an enormous room, empty but black armored knights.

"All right~!" She sang happily, enjoying the never ending battle from one room to the next. He sighed heavily, not looking forward to this at all. They continued to trek on in this unparalleled maze.

"Elesis, slow down a little. We've wasted enough energy on mere enemies. Let's stop for a bit."

"No way~ We need to find our comrades and weapons as fast as possible." The knight sang, swinging the heavy hammer clumsily, but happily. Though she said so, the spell knight knew she meant to say 'No way~ This is getting fun the more we get deeper in this maze~' Ronan sighed that he had to put up with this girl and continued to follow her, conserving his own energy just in case the knight was drained out. Although, he didn't hate it at all. In reality, he enjoyed just watching the girl ecstatic, doing what she does best and what she loves best. He ran after her.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Elesis yowled out after hearing loud footsteps near them, positioning the magic mallet in a fashion that she was ready to slam it down hard. The blue haired man took precaution as he neared the younger girl, casting his hand over his sword.

"AH! It's you guys!" Vermilion rushed towards them, yelping in relief. "I thought I was the only one in here!"

"Ryan!" The spell knight was equally relieved to see the druid as they slammed their fists. Elesis rolled her eyes to the brothership they had. "And.. You found Jin's tonfa."

"Yeah, I did." Ryan gripped them tightly in his fists, though he held them differently from how a shisa would, holding them at the end instead of it's handles. "I had to improvise and use them like my storm blades. And you found your sword. Lucky you." The elf nudged the spell knight. "And I can see Elesis is having fun with Mari's Magic Mallet..."

"Yeap." Elesis confirmed with confidence. "Here, try it for a while."

"... You just want to try Jin's tonfa now, don't you.."

"Hell yeah!" The knight swiped the tonfa off his hands and shoved him the magic mallet. "Soon, I will conquer all the weapons and I will be the most powerful all rounded fighter in the world!" She laughed maniacally as she swung them in the air, pretending to be a skilled shisa as Jin. Ronan sighed, yet he smiled a little.

"Woah.. Sorry to destroy your private moment with your girlfriend there." Ryan snickered to the spell knight. Ronan punched the druid lightly.

"Shut up..." The spell knight grunted as he followed the hyper shisa-wannabe, behind his was a snickering Polaris-druid.

Earlier on, they weren't deceived by the samurai at all.

* * *

><p>"Melt!" The silverette was surprised to see the half beast just standing there in the middle of the room. His hands raised in front of him, his eyes were closed, his whole body was still.<p>

The viridian eyes opened. Dark, deathly and dilated as he stared at his hosts.

"Rise. Gate of Darkness..."

Every shred of shadow rushed towards those red tipped fingers. They came from the half breed's own cloak, from below the feet of the Grand Chase, from every inch of the dark room. And with all that darkness, rose a huge terrible gate of skeletal bars. It reeked of carcasses and the fowl stench of death as the troop scowled at it's scent.

"Open, Gate of Darkness." Melt commanded darkly and it obeyed, swinging open with an unbearable piercing creak.

Without warning, it sucked all the guests in as their screams howled terrifyingly.

"Master..." Gaikoz stood unaffected by the gate's suction powers, waiting for his next commands.

"..."

* * *

><p>They weren't lied by the samurai at all.<p>

Just didn't expect that to happen. Didn't expect they were going to be sucked into a huge gate and separated to different locations as well as from their own weapons. It was only by chance that the spell knight found a red headed knight wielding his spell sword and having an intense battle just metres away from his wake up point, where he had the Magic Mallet near him.

"MY STORM BLADES!" Ryan yelped happily, seeing the two blades standing just in front of them and scampered straight towards it, throwing the magic mallet to the spell knight. "MY STORM BLADES~!" The orange haired elf hugged it with love. "Don't ever leave me~"

"And that is how a Ryan will be sighted once you leave the bait 'Storm Blades' there." Another voice hollered from the other side, one which was owned by a blond who led another strange mismatched party. Lire waved happily to the group with Sleaghgrim in her other hand. Behind her was Swordsmaster Ley with a red plated broadsword and Traveler Mari whom dragged Grandark by her steed.

"How interesting. The simple minded will be deceived by simple traps." Mari noted the information the blond elf taught the girls. The sword she held on blinked in agreement, seeing only idiots would have fell for such lowly tricks. Ryan, feeling humiliated, hid behind his blades.

"Lire! Ley! Mari! You girls alright?" - Ronan

"Barely." Ley wheezed, handing over the heavy broadsword to its owner and receiving a pair of Tonfa in return. "Lire here had never wielded any blades bigger than a kitchen knife so she had her difficulties using Master Seighart's Sleaghgrim. Grandark refuses to be used by anyone other than Zero - The annoying thing - And as for me, I had no idea how tiring swinging swords is."

Returning into her comfort zone, Elesis' strength was at the same level as Ronan. The original Swordsmaster gripped her broadsword, feeling the power seeping into her. "Well then, we'll just have to make do with what we got."

* * *

><p>The bounty hunter took his time walking. He was refreshing his mind repeatedly. One minute, he was beside his brother, in a huge hall in front of his pet, and the next, he found himself waking up in a silent village - silent meaning deserted. There were signs of people everywhere. But it was as if they just suddenly disappeared. And Hell, thinking about all this was hurting his head.<p>

'This place... Where have I seen this place...?'

The cobbled path was a blur to him but the routes and paths were coming to him as he pressed on into this unknown yet familiar territory. Then he found himself in the center of the village, where a fountain stood majestically with a small flag hoisted above it. The flag was black with a lone silver cross.

'This is.. Silver.. Cross...?' Rufus was surely taken back. Deep inside him, there was an intoxicating feeling that he shouldn't be here. That he should have never returned here.

'Wait... 'Returned'...?' The bounty hunter took as much energy to calm his nerves. 'Why 'returned'? Have I been here before? But why would I forget?' He searched his memories drastically, seeking the answers in every inch of his mind. There were traces of the Silver Cross flag somewhere in his mind.

"Rufus? You're here too.." The brunette was interrupted by his brother, just opposite to him, on the other side of the fountain. "And here I thought this was a dream and that I've returned back home... So this is like.. A place created to look like Silver Cross in the gate..?"

'Home..? This was Lass' hometown.. Then..' He sighed, taking a seat on the fountain's edge. The silverette took the seat next to his. Like him, Lass didn't have any of his weapons on him, not even the hidden knives that was up his sleeves. Thankfully, they were skilled in hand to hand combat to some extent. It took one look for the thief to see something was wrong with the bounty hunter as he massaged his temple with deep concern.

".. Let's take a walk around. I'm sure a change of scenery would be better for you..."

"Damn.. It keeps getting worse..." Rufus muttered, his hands latched hard on to his head. Every single detail taken in by him was doing nothing but a throbbing pain in his head. Lass grunted, unsatisfied with the results. They had made their way to the outskirts of Silver Cross, a huge plain spread to the horizon where dense forests stood.

"... I don't really like this part of the town either.." The thief's fingers shifted uncomfortably. "... It's near to where the Nightmare Circus..." He left the sentence hanging, unwilling to continue on. Rufus knew exactly what the silverette meant.

"... There.. That spot.." The brunette blinked at one particular part of the field. One that was calling out to him, longing for his presence. "What's there..?"

"Where I used to sleep." The bounty hunter made his way to the spot, inspecting closely to it. His mind was clearing out of the pain and nothing was blurry anymore. Though, the thief had a completely opposite expression in his face - worried and insecure, he even had his guard up involuntarily. ".. This part of the field.. Is also where I feel like something is missing in my life..."

"This is crap..." Rufus collapsed onto the ground and rolled onto his back, still searching his thoughts. The sky above him were blue and all too familiar. The thief took a seat next to him, staring into the same sky. "What the Hell is with this place...?"

The squeaking noises of children was soon heard by the teens. They were just bewildered to the fact there was signs of life in this place, especially when they did not find any back in the heart of the village. Coming towards them were two very young boys, one with striking silver hair and the other was a brunette with pointed ears, you could say that these two were the mini versions of Lass and Rufus. They were laughing together, chased by a fairly large dog that was enjoying their game.

The dog was white in color, having a blue mask like patch of fur across it's face and three emerald gems embedded on its forehead. With the tips of crimson and rings of azure, the dog just felt so familiar to the teens that sat there watching them play around. Its leather collar hung from its neck loosely, with a small tag latched on to it.

"Go to the other side!" The little brunette yelped as he made a sudden turn. His companion nodded and obediently followed his commands. The dog, startled at the sudden separation of the boys, made a halt, deciding who he should chase after next. "RRRAAAAAWWWWRRRRR!"

The brunette turned and pounced onto the larger-than-him dog. It grunted as they collided, and struggled even more when the silverette had done the same thing. They rolled in one huge ball with innocent gleeful giggling. When they settled down, the dog had been above them, not letting the two boys go from its paws. "Kazedoggeh! Leggo~~!"

"You fat dog! You got heavier again!" The brunette shoved the dog over as hard as he could. It was a success as he flipped over. The two boys then escaped again, running freely around them. The dog grunted. As it stretched and got back on to its feet, it was immediately pounced on again and fell down with them again.

It barked in irritation, kicking them off. Initially, they stared at the dog innocently. Until a pair of evil grins appeared on their faces and they tackled down the dog again. It whined in protest as it lightly shoved the two boys away, in turn the children tried harder to latch on it.

Though, soon enough, the boys had fallen asleep on it comfortably. The dog sniffed the scent over them before it rested its head on the silverette, watching over them like their own parent. A glint of calm happiness shined in its emerald eyes.

"That's us..?"

"But why..?" Both the brothers were surprised to see the scene just occurring in front of them. They don't seem to remember when in their lives did this scene happen. The point in their lives where they were actually together as true brothers.

"And that dog is awfully familiar too.." Rufus grunted, eying it with determined concentration.

"It's Kazedoggeh. My dog.." Lass tried to recall any of his childhood memories, one he made before the nightmare of his life began. "Well.. It seems he's our dog..."

They were taken back when the dog stared at the older set of brothers straight into their eyes. It dragged itself away from the two younger siblings, taking its time nearing to the boys.

"Master Lass. Master Rufus. It's nice to meet you again." Although it spoke so well mannerly, the fact it did speak to them was literally scaring them to an extent. It grunted in amusement to the boys' bewildered expression. "Don't be worried. I am but a mere fragment of memory. And my have you two brothers grown huge."

"... If you're just a fragment of memory, then why do you have an artificial intelligence?" The bounty hunter was merely distrustful towards the talking dog, seeing he could not remember it as much as the thief did and not wanting to mistake this memory as just a false fantasy.

"Because I am connected to my own soul that is somewhere in this world, thus I retain my emotions, my self awareness and so on." Kaze'doggeh then glanced away. It dared not to see its master anymore than it had now. "And for that reason, i apologize. I had failed, as your guardian, to take care of the both of you. to keep the promise to watch over Master Lass for as long as i lived. and i apologize to have gotten the two of you in to this mess because of my own incompetence, of how i could not persuade Melt to stop all this nonsense."

"Wait! You-" The earth trembled violently so suddenly. The blue sky was fading into obsidian black and the image of the soundless village and forest just shattered in the horizon. The two younger boys seemed to have disappeared so suddenly as well. Behind those cracked picture was just plain darkness.

"I am sorry, Master Lass. Master Rufus. But it seems as there is a larger mass of power trying to stop me from continuing our conversation... Probably Melt..." The dog gripped on to the ground tighter, his body was fading away like static. "Please.. Remember.. The darkness entwines the truth. Seek for it, unveil it with the light that is your desire."

"Kaze'doggeh!" The howl of its name from its masters was probably the last it heard from them, as it gave them a hoping smile and disappeared away. They found themselves in new terrain. A dark cobbled room, with no light what so ever. The sudden scenery change was too much for them as they tried to register what their former pet had told them as well.

"I've found the brothers!" Jin shouted to his back, waving to the two teens. He then noticed the two were fully equipped with all their weapons, from their first job to last. "And they've got all their weapons with them too." Though the two guys noticed the sudden attachments of weaponry on them, they also noticed that trailing the fighter, who was surprisingly wielding Lire's crossbows, was Dio, with a smug on his face, dragging a Soluna and Ryan's scythe.

"What the heck is with both of you? And where are the others?"

"We still haven't found them after we got separated when we were sucked into the 'Gate of Darkness'" The fighter muttered. "And so were our weapons. That's why I'm using Lire's crossbows as a temporary tonfa." The fighter swung it confidently. "Though, I had troubles with the arrows that sometimes come out of nowhere..."

"I got the tree hugger's scythe because I'm much comfortable with using a scythe. And the Soluna cause.. Well, I found it so it's mine." The demon laughed heartily, keeping the majestic sword by his steed. "I'd like to see the look on that bastard's face when he finds that I've got his precious sword..."

"... Well, moving on..." Jin moved towards the brothers. "Let's go. I've gathered the rest of the Grand Chase at the entrance of this maze and found these two and the both of you. Now I'm going to look for Master Seighart, Arme and Zero as well as anymore weapons lying around." The fighter soon listed down the weapons they still needed to find - which was only a few, including most of Jin's weapons but his tonfa.

"Then why aren't you using your own tonfas...?"

"Elesis won't hand them back to me... She seems so into them..."

"Well, knowing that fool, he must be somewhere sleeping without a damn of where he is. And Zero's probably wandering nonstop, not noticing whether he had been walking in circles or something... So we'll have better chances at finding the little mage first." The demon grunted. "Though that will give me plenty of time to play around with this baby." Dio snickered yet again, holding the Soluna in the air. The three humans had sweatdrops falling and Rufus merely facepalmed to that fact.

* * *

><p>They took their time scouting around, avoiding as much enemies as they could and keeping their eyes as widely open as they could. So far, the three characters were still missing from their view. Jin was futher ahead of them, seeing that he seems to know the ups and downs of the whole maze. Dio was at the back, trying out a Soluna-Scythe fighting combination. In between, the bounty hunter nudged the thief. "You remember clearly what happened, right? Not just a dream?"<p>

"Yeah.. Sorry, brother.." Lass muttered. Judging from what Kaze'doggeh had told them, they silently concluded that Kaze'doggeh's the other soul that had been forcefully put into Melt. And Melt had been the one who was abusing the powers, not the dog.

"... It's alright, I guess.." Rufus shook his head, sniffing lightly. "I'm just a little happy to the fact I saw a childhood memory of both of us, together.."

"Hmm.. It's hard to believe that we actually didn't remember something so nice.."

"... That also explains why I got this collar..." The bounty hunter took out an old leather collar with a rusted name tag from the inner pocket of his jacket. It was smothered in the brown powder that the name had already been erased but nevertheless, it could be clearly compared to with the collar the Memory Kaze'doggeh used earlier on. After showing it to Lass, he put it back into its place. "Damn it.. Why did I forget something so important..."

"A dark event can overshadow a beautiful memory." From behind Dio muttered lowly, startling the two boys. "Sorry to just eavesdrop on you two and interrupt your conversation, but you two are forgetting I'm a demon with big ears and I just know stuff."

"Go play with your toys, will you.."

"Just saying..." The violet demon glanced away from the two, slowing down his pace to give the brothers some privacy. Though, his words did give a thought.

"Must be something really bad that we just.. Somehow got separated.." The brunette grunted in agreement to the silverette. They were silence for a moment.

"The darkness entwines the truth. Seek for it, unveil it with the light that is your desire." Breaking the ice, Rufus repeated the last words of the red and blue stripped white dog they had met earlier on. "It's as if that dog is telling us there's still a way to save Melt from the darkness somehow..."

"But that's good, isn't it? A chance, a hope that we should fight on." Rufus nodded with the thief. The bounty hunter couldn't help but have a faint smile.

'Kaze'doggeh.. Don't you know you're still watching out for us?'

* * *

><p>"Zero!" The fighter waved his arms happily to the gray haired demon who was just standing there, holding onto a red plated sword. He took a while to notice the red head and nodded back. "Have you seen Master Seighart and Arme anywhere?"<p>

"They're with me. Resting there.." The demon pointed to what was behind him, a small cave made to be a temporary shelter. The four men got close enough to see that the rest of the weapons they've been searching for were also with them. And was very amazed that Seighart wasn't sleeping at all. Instead, he was actually watching over a sleeping Arme.

"What happened?" The thief soon got to the magenta haired teen, inspecting every inch. She seems fine physically.

"Dunno." Both the men shrugged looking at each other then to the silverette. "We found her shivering, then she fainted. Something must have shocked her pretty badly."

"Where did you find her?"

"The little thing was just standing there, paralyzed.." Seighart reluctantly waved his hand at a direction.

A shady wall but a door

* * *

><p><strong>... Imagining the Grand Chase wielding other weapons got me writing this. Hehehehe~ Maybe later I should try to make a battle story about that. Who knows?<strong>

**Polaris Elesis vs Shisa Ryan. Elesis' sheer strength would pulverise the wolf boy and she might just terminate him if she was smart enough to use it to its full potential. On the other hand, Ryan's strength would be drastically boosted, and with his wolf form being near to indestructible, he's like a charging Panzer, crushing everything in his path.**

**Hehe~ Just a teaser there. I'll think about making that. For now, let me finish up this story.**

**Kaze'doggeh~ I'm a fan and so should everyone else! XD**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm sorry to everyone who has been faithfully waiting for this story =-=" I've been terribly busy to the brink of death to even type a few words to continue this story. College has been a pain in the ass. Like its a whole new level of Hell D:**  
><strong>Anyways... Thankfully, things calmed down a bit and now I has time to type this. Weeeeeee~!<strong>

**Btw, if the characters go.. Totally OOC, then I apologize.. I haven't been GC-ing for a while either. (I was totally dead from the internet world TT-TT).**

* * *

><p>A shady wall but a door. Bolted down with rusty hinges. Possessing an ancient knob, degrading away through time.<p>

"We both tried to open it and well... We're still here..." The immortal combined a frustrated whine and a bored sigh. "and I was really looking forward to something fun... Hey Zero! You said there was something wrong with that door, right?"

The demon merely grunted, his gaze still fixed onto the white painted wooden door. ".. Even if I had Gran with me, we still won't be able to barge down that door... And then we would've.." Zero soon trailed off with mutterings of his own, one of which was too low and jumbled up for the rest of the party to make out. Once the demon noticed that they were making blank faces, he snorted. "Sorry... what I mean is that.. It seems the door has a mind of its own.. Only opening to certain people. Arme, for example."

"But. whatever's in there has got to be terrifying enough to put little missy there into shock.." Seighart interrupted the demon, not interested to see Zero trail off to his own world. The wanderer ignored it, the rude actions of the immortal, as he made another snort. "If only I could take a peek as well..."

"And Master Seighart.. You're not afraid of it?" Even though, Jin was a brave and brash person whom loved a head on fight, he was still cautious enough to look at the situation. And whatever was behind the door was something not to be under estimated.

"Pshh.. I'm a damned immortal. I won't _even_ die when Hell itself breaks loose in front of me." As usual, Seighart brushed it off like it was nothing, laughing arrogantly with utter content. The fighter couldn't help but press his palm against his face. The two brothers merely rolled their eyes and Zero grunted, not amused. Dio on the other hand snorted in disgust.

"Don't bet on it, idiot. You're forgetting _I_ can still to kill you." The stygian grinned as he pulled up the Soluna in front of the gladiator. "'Sides that, I got _this_ on my side."

"H-Hey!" Bewildered to see his beautiful sword in the possession of his mortal enemy, Seighart immediately got on to his feet. Selfishly, he pulled the crimson sword from Zero's grip, causing the demon to lose his balance and fall onto his face. Ignoring Zero's growl of irritation, Seighart challenged the stygian. "Well, I guess holding the Soluna is a start.. Now let's see if you can even swing it.."

"Don't you _dare_ underestimate me, fool..." The violet demon peered to the immortal, smirking in his usually annoying face of his.

"Oh, am I underestimating you? I'm sorry, I didn't realize it since all I see is a little kid trying to act all macho and all.."

"Why you..."

Seeing as the situation was proceeding to something so irrelevant as Dio and Seighart started their one-on-one battles again, the wanderer decided ignore them and continue to bring up the issue of importance in the moment; the door. "Though, it's been a while and I don't even sense anything behind the door.."

"I see..." The red haired fighter replied drearily. He was more absorbed towards the fight of the two powerful forces in front of him. The wanderer sighed. He was already used to being ignored by the rest of the Grand Chase members. Though, if Grandark were here, he'd used the sword to break the fight himself and instead, gain both victory and attention from the rivalry of Seighart and Dio.

"Right..." Zero heaved himself up. Seeing that he had no weapons to wield around him, he decided to make do without them. As he tightened his fists, he charged into the fight.

"Oh! Zero! You're going to join in the fun, eh? Let's beat the Hell out of this old man and see if we can send him to the other side!" Dio roared, enjoyment entwined in those words as he passed the Soluna to the wanderer. He knew that the gray haired demon was powerful enough without his sword, if only he was more confident with his own strengths.

"Hey now. Two against one isn't a fair deal!"

"It was never a two against one." Zero replied to the immortal's whine as he slashed both his opponents. Realizing the '_prime knight'_s' aim, both Seighart and Dio smirked, aroused to continue the fight as their adrenaline pumped into their veins rapidly.

"Well then, Zero. Welcome to the club. Your initiation will begin with a severe mauling of the newbie, or in other words, you." Seighart sinisterly laughed as he tightened his grip on his granddaughter's sword.

".. No welcome mat necessary." The demon replied with a smug, remembering the immortal's own words when he spoke to the back when they entered the crucible. Feeling a tad offended by his own words, Seighart's desire to crush the demon grew larger in him.

"Like I said, I'm the _only one_ here who can be all awesome!"

But as their battle presumed, they had forgotten of the presence of two particular brothers, missing from their scope of vision.

* * *

><p>He groaned, having a thundering beat pounding in his head. But ignoring the throes, he scanned around. Nothing, but pitch black. Was he alone in there? No, he remembered he fell in with someone else.<p>

"Rufus? You there?"

"Yes... And you're.. Sitting on my... Aargh it hurts..." From below, Rufus replied with a mourning groan, heaving off the thief comfortably sitting on him. Relieved he wasn't alone, Lass crawled off, still keeping his gaze over his brother. The bounty hunter took his time to adjust his vision to the plain darkness before he noticed Lass was having a small grin plastered on his face. "What's with that smirk? You enjoyed being on top?"

"In your dreams..."

"So you wanted to be the bottom?"

"Can we just drop the subject?"

"No, it's getting interesting. Tell me, did you like sitting on my-"

"Go to Hell." Lass kicked the brunette by his face as he stood up. In the few days he spent with Rufus, he learnt that the brunette could be one hell of a pain in the ass when he speaks, especially when the particular subject had just the slightest connection to a vulgar topic. No wonder he was suited to a person to be left alone. But does that mean Lass was as well a pervert? Or at least talked that way. The silverette sighed. "I really do wonder how I'm related to you..."

"Kaze'doggeh proved that theory that we're related. Deal with it." Rufus muttered back as he rubbed his nose. "So where the Hell are we...?"

Gently closing his eyes, Lass took a deep breath, remembering what happened just minutes ago.

* * *

><p>"Sense nothing, huh..?" The bounty hunter muttered lightly, his eyes fixed on to the door.<p>

"What's wrong?" Behind him, Lass was busy tending to the fainted mage, scanning for any kind of physical damage. When he was sure she was alright, he laid her down against a wall, caressing her softly before leaving her.

"... I sense something... And it doesn't feel arousing.." Ignoring the epic battle just next to them, Rufus slipped around and approached the door with caution. Lass, being curious as well, followed after. One thing for sure was that he had seen Seighart and Dio's battle over and over again. Having Zero added to the fight is just going to end up the same way, messy and tiring, so there wasn't a need for the thief to muse himself over the fight. As the bounty hunter turned the knob, only the sounds of a locked door was produced. "Well, the door doesn't seem to like me enough to open up.."

"Let's see.. Zero said only certain people could open it.." Lass took hold of the knob and turned it. Nothing.

"It doesn't seem to like you either."

"Shut up with the door liking us."

Rufus shrugged it off, still thinking hard of the door in front of him. ".. Let's see.. Maybe Kaze'doggeh left us a clue for situations like this..."

"_' The darkness entwines the truth. Seek for it, unveil it with the light that is your desire.'_" Lass repeated those last words their beloved companion had left them, just before their worlds were shattered away, separating them from ever seeing the other again. Though, still on the subject of reminiscing, the thief remembered the last words Melt had said to them, just before they entered this world. "This world.. Melt said it's the _'Gate of Darkness'_."

"Let's say this world, is the darkness. Then the truth is somewhere in this world, right?"

"Well, from that assumption, it's like using our desire to find the truth to open this door." The thief bluntly replied, seeing how it sounded so idiotic.

"Who knows.." The brunette then started knocking the door hard. "Yo door! Let us in cause we wanna know everything!"

And by surprise, the door swung open. With the suction force they felt when they entered this world, they were sucked into the room without warning.

* * *

><p>"Huh..?" The lilac eyes blinked open. "Wha-?"<p>

She jumped to her feet, backing away against the wall. In front of her, was yet another epic battle, this time, it was a four way fight between the most strangest competitors she had ever seen; Knight Seighart, Viken Dio and Prime Knight Zero. And each and every one of them were lusting for blood. "This has got to be a strange dream, I know it..."

"Oh Arme, you're awake." Just next to her, Jin was cheering on one all the three seniors. "Guys! Arme's up!"

"Huhn?" Dio leaped away from a slash from the immortal, landing straight towards them. "Arme, a little healing would help."

"O-Okay."

"Don't you dare heal him, third rate mage girl! I'm going to kill him!" Seighart blasted himself from his position, dragging the broadsword towards the viken. Brashly reacting, Dio turned to defend himself with Ryan's scythe. The impact of the collision of the two powers destroyed the ground below their feet as they struggled to gain control of the fight.

"Haaa!" Out of nowhere, Zero swung the Soluna to the both of them, throwing them to the far side of the field. His face was flustered in satisfaction as a deathly killing aura soon leaked out of the demon. "I see why the Soluna's a sword that can even destroy gods themselves.."

"C-calm down, Zero! We don't need another idiot with rage mode!" Dio jolted from his ground, slowly approaching the soon to be deranged Zero. His breathings were getting irregular and his assassinating aura around him was still growing.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Seighart grunted in irritation to the violet demon's words as he followed by, marching up to the artificial demon. "He doesn't have a rage mode cause he isn't a real Prime Knight."

"Heheh..eh..heheh..." The eerie laugh seeping out of the Prime Knight wannabe sent shivers to everyone around them.

"Z-zero..?"

"Kid..?"

In an instant, Zero swept the floor of the two males, slashing the Soluna to the horizon and sending them slamming to the wall just next to Arme. The girl shriek in surprised as she jumped to the astonished fighter. Zero then leaned on to the Soluna, reverting to his normal self. "Just joking.."

"Geez... This kid is full of surprises.." The immortal growled. He then heaved himself up and stretched out his arms. "Man, we should do this more often.. A fight between the Legendary Seighart and the wanderer Zero."

"And what of me?"

"Kids like you shouldn't play with us, tough guys." He joked with his usual carefree tone. Irk to the raven haired man, Dio pulled down his foot, making him fall flat on his face.

"So.. Arme. You alright?"

"... Barely..." The mage stuttered. She had just woken up to a battle and suddenly it ended with a friendly chat. This was just all too hard for her to absorb into her mind. "What.. Happened..? I remember being sucked into a huge gate and that was it.."

Jin slowly explained to the conscious mage of the recent events - on how they were all separated upon entering, as well as their weapons, on how they went to find the rest of the Grand Chase, and on how they met the girl whom fainted in front of the door. "Come to think of it, Lass and Rufus has been awfully quiet... You two aren't going to say anyth-"

The fighter glanced to his left, then right, then left again. There were no traces of a silver haired thief nor a brunette bounty hunter. Zero snorted "... They've disappeared a while ago.."

"... And you choose now to tell us?" Sarcasm was in Dio's tone as he punched his demon companion, lightly enough to make him feel a stinging, harmless pain in his stomach.

"You all weren't paying attention when I told you in the midst of the fight..." He pouted as he turned away. Clearly, Zero pointed out where the fault lied. "Most probably they got in the room behind the door."

"No!" Arme yelped, her eyes filled with terror. "They should have never gone in there!"

"Calm down, Arme!" Jin hushed the trembling girl with tears falling off her cheeks. "Arme, calm down. Why don't you tell us what was behind that door?"

"It was horrible..." She whimpered. "It was just..."

* * *

><p>"It all comes down to it being your fault we're in this... Where ever this is.." Lass sighed as he blinked open his eyes, after recalling the series of events that led them to where they were currently. The room was totally dull, drained of any other existing colors. Clearly weird.<p>

"I admit it's my fault, but seriously, I can't see anything in here..." The crimson eyes narrowed to focus on anything but it was in vain as his vision was still of nothing but the pitch black of the darkness. His hands latched on to the slender waist in front of him.

"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE HOLDING ONTO!" A fierce buck threw him off as he backed away. A growl of annoyance seemed to have fluttered into his pointed ears. Instead of feeling threatened, he felt aroused and continued to grab on to the body. "HEY!"

"I can't see like you ninjas in the dark. So I'm holding on to you in case I trip or fall on something.."

"Tch.. Can't you just tug my shirt?"

"... I _might_ probably strip it off of you... That's a good idea.."

"SHADDAP!" The teen in front of him lashed out. The fierce azure eyes that shone in the dull place was the only thing visible to the brunette, and one he found very amusing. He shrugged off the glare and let his hand lazily fall on to the shoulder of the silverette.

"Happy? My sweet little brother?" A faint smirk appeared on the half demon's face. In turn it irritated the silverette. But this was better than being grabbed on by his waist.

"... Just shut that trap of yours..." Though he was angry towards his brother, the thief was just relieved that there weren't any sightings for any opponents yet in the room. A scenario of him and his brother fighting a monster had flashed into his mind and the fact that the bounty hunter couldn't see as clearly as he did in the darkness just sent him shivering that he might have shot the thief, by mistake or on purpose, using the darkness as an excuse.

"It's just an empty room..." He muttered, scanning the room hard.

The sudden jerk of his brother's hand over his shoulder tensed him as well. Being a half demon, Rufus was very reliable in his sensing abilities compared to the silverette, specifically his sense of smell and spiritual traces. This Lass knew very well from spending time being with the brunette. "... There's something disgusting stinking up the place..."

"From where?"

"Dunno. It suddenly surrounded us." The brunette took another whiff, though he coughed the smell out of his nostrils harshly. "The same thing I sensed earlier on. But stronger.. And damned disgusting.. Uuurgh.."

The thief snorted to his reaction, seeing the brunette trying so hard to cover up his nose. In a sense, he was glad he couldn't detect the stench, seeing how much the demon was resenting it. "You're face is hilarious.."

"Shut up. I'd prefer to see you suffer than smiling.." The brunette then halted, blinking blankly at the silverette. "... I can see your face.."

"You just realized that you're not?"

"No.. It's just.. This is a dark room.. So why is it we can see each other clearly? Why can't we see anything else?" Raising up the topic got the two brothers thinking hard. And it led them both to the same conclusion.

"... Are we.. Seriously going to do it..?"

"It's stupid, but it worked earlier on.. Right?"

They both groaned, reluctant to do what was supposed to be done. Lass sighed before he took a deep breath.

"We are the light which seeks out the truth in the darkness. Reveal to us what lies in this- OWCH!" The bounty hunter smacked the thief by his head in irritation.

"Don't chant it out like some holy text, idiot."

"How else am I going to sa-" His words stopped flowing out of his mouth as a flicker of light slowly illuminated the area that surrounded them, revealing the white floor which they stood on and everything else. "Woaaa... This is just..."

"Damn..." The brunette blinked in astonishment. "I rather see the pitch darkness please.."

The room was painted blood red, decorated with little pieces of body parts everywhere.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it from me for now... Eheheheh... Currently, I'm working on three other GC fanfics, but I'll be posting them up after I'm finished with this story. Well... If I ever finish this story...<strong>

**Hanako-chama out~**


	18. Chapter 18

**Warning : The following chapter has slight gore, blackmail, and Zero abuse due to Seighart and Dio, with the help of the author. No one was harmed at the makings of this chapter.**

**Hahaha that was to write XD... Anyways, seriously... The blackmail and Zero abuse (I'm sorry, I love him too much to the point I'm this sadistic to him x-x) parts are made for laughs (I love comedy). The gore part... I'm not even sure if it gore o-o" But just brace yourselves anyways. Enjoy ^^**

* * *

><p>Chopped into tiny pieces were the fingers and toes. The limbs were merely divided up into sections with bite marks and torn out flesh. The body was skinned and ripped open, with guts spilled everywhere. And the face, oh it wasn't even recognizable. Everything else, blood covered it all.<p>

"This... Is just too inhumane..." He uttered out, his face grimacing in his palm, holding back any signs of nausea from just the sight of the it all.

"Something with claws and fangs must have done all this. There doesn't seem to be any needs to have clean cuts and fast kills." The brunette gazed down to the small piece of finger in front of him, followed by a trail of blood drops. "Torture was done in this as well.. But it's not the way I'd like to do it.."

"So, can you deduce who was killed as well, detective?" Lass snorted. But more or less he tried to speak bluntly to keep himself from breathing in the tainted air. His brother merely shrugged as he scanned around. Since the face was brutally mauled, there couldn't be any possible way to figure out who was murdered so horrifically.

"... It's a woman..." He bit his lips as he saw the female internal organs, carelessly thrown and torn out of the body. He had been hoping it was at least a male or maybe something else. But not a woman, no. The bounty hunter groaned in irritation as he clearly knew there could only be one woman that was involved in this whole twisted messed up plot.

"... It's not Melt.." The thief retorted. He knew he had to try hard to keep the spirit of the bounty hunter up. From what he had once witnessed just a while back, Rufus was as deadly as an assassin when he becomes pessimistic, regarding the incident where he nearly shot Mari at point blank, wanting to deny actual facts that he dared not to believe in, no matter how painful it was to him. Though, he also learnt that Rufus was one who overcame problems with ease. So best way to deal with it was to keep reinforcing the half demon, no matter how much it hurts him. "The skin tone isn't white, nor are there sharp nails on his fingers. And there are no signs of his tails."

"... Melt's original body was a woman."

"Didn't you say she had turquoise hair and eyes..?" Again, the thief countered the brunette's negativity as he crept and crouched down to take a closer look the head. The skull was cracked open, that's for sure. Though, it was missing an eyeball, a set of jaws and a left ear to be considered a full head, he could still make out some characteristics of the woman from the remaining of the carcass. "Dead for quite a long time, I'm surprised there's no decay though... Amethyst hair. About waist length. And ruby eyes..."

A silence grew above them as they gradually realize whom was killed in this mess.

"Melt... Did mentioned a woman of violet hair and red eyes..."

"And I know only one person who has those descriptions..." Lass shuddered to the image of the woman whom appeared in his thoughts. How she was just horrifyingly cruel and inhumane, she was just the pure meaning of evil itself. "So.. This is the.. Personification of Kaze'Aze's powers..."

The bounty hunter swore loudly, blasting the deranged body with his eyeteeth into smithereens, his mind was full of rage. "DAMN IT ALL!"

"Rufus! Calm down!"

"I can't!" He lashed back to the thief. Burning madly in his ruby eyes were pure anger. "How can I calm down when I know Melt's the one who did this! Melt killed the Kaze'Aze inside him and took her powers! He already said Kaze'Aze had always been dead, even from when we encountered him back in Victor's castle! Melt is.. Melt is.."

The bounty hunter crouched down and sighed heavily. Lass took his time to approached to the brunette, patting his back gently.

"Melt.. He..."

* * *

><p>"Why.. Won't you... OPEN UP!" Again and again, Jin punched the wooden door. Each time his fist crashed, the impact got more stronger, the beatings got more faster. "RAAAAAAA!"<p>

"Oh, be quiet, fool." The stygian leaning just next to the door growled. "Brute force isn't the answer here. We've got to think of something else.."

"Says the kid who helplessly try to murder the mighty Seighart." The immortal retorted as he snickered, lazing comfortably on his jacket. The violet demon spat his tongue out in the midst of the immortal's muse.

"Zero, what was it that you said earlier? About the door, I mean."

"The door has a mind of its own, opening up to certain people... " The wanderer grunted beside him, humming with the roars of the fighter whom continuously crashed his knuckles to the door.

"What? You're saying that doors have feelings? Pffftttt..." Seighart laughed at the opinion, thinking to how hilarious the thought was. "Man. I didn't know you were this funny, Zero."

Nevertheless, the demon was actually getting a tad annoyed to how much the immortal could still laugh, especially in the critical situation they were in. And the fact he had recently lost to the demon. Zero made a short snort, understanding lightly of what Dio had been suffering from the immortal all this time. Meanwhile, Arme was more frustrated in worrying over a certain fighter.

"J-Jin! You've got to stop! You're hands are bleeding!" The magician yelped from behind him, pulling him away.

"NO! This door has got to open!" Jin pulled hard to free himself from the weak grasps of the mage. "You said it already, what's behind there is terrible enough! We can't just sit around and let them stay in there any longer! RAAA HANUMAAAAN!" Taking a few steps back to free himself from the girl, he rushed forward and kicked the door with full force. Nothing. Not even a scratch was made. "RAAAAAHH! JUST OPEN UP!"

Being full of surprises, the door did swing open, bombarding two bodies towards the crimson haired fighter. He groaned angrily upon seeing a couple of brothers moaning in pain as the door slammed shut. All of them were still in shock whilst it dispersed into the darkness.

"Woah. What do you know..." Seighart sat up quickly, amazed and chuckling with more muse. "Asking it works!"

"Not the best method though..." Jin groaned in irritation, shoving the two males off of him. Simultaneously, Arme jumped straight towards their lying bodies, inspecting them quickly. They were sleeping, not soundly, but still, they were sleeping. And alive. She sighed heavily in relief, gazing above them with full attention.

"They're not dead.. Nor are they hurt.. Thank goodness..."

"Let's finally regroup with the rest of the Grand Chase.." The fighter heaved himself up, pulling up the slumbering silverettle over his shoulder. The rest nodded in agreement as Dio dragged the brunette harshly over his back.

* * *

><p>The wind toyed with the light blue bangs, yet those ears flopped against the breeze. He turned around, revealing his smiling emerald eyes. "Rafas~"<p>

"Melt." The bounty hunter replied back, messing up the cyan hair as he squealed in protest. The younger boy then found himself cuddling into Rufus' arms like a little dog. For a moment, they stayed that way. Rufus was in peace as he continued to gently stroked the light blue hair. Melt only purred back. If only every single troublesome thing would be gone, leaving him to rest in this comfortable feeling.

"Nee Rafas~" The younger boy picked himself up, rising to the same eye level as the bounty hunter's own ruby eyes. A bad feeling grew inside the depths of his stomach as the sparkling emerald eyes darkened into a shade of viridian. "Nee Rufus... You.. Why didn't you bring me along?"

Rufus flinched to that questioned. They tormented him, as regrets of the past slowly revealed themselves from the shadows of his life. Melt's voice dropped dangerously low as he straddled himself on the brunette, pushing him down aggressively. "Why didn't you bring me along? Why did you leave me in that town?"

"Be.. Because I-"

"I was attacked, Rufus. Strapped on to an operating table against my will. Having my character destroyed into an empty shell of darkness. To serve.. No. To be the puppet of that person they called their Queen."

"W-wait! I-" The brunette forced himself up, pushing off the half beast, but he was restrained back to do anything. Black iron chains had locked him down and he was bounded to the floor that was the darkness.

"Melt help Rafas... Do you remember those three words? I wanted to help you oh so much when we were stuck at that blasted place... And that made me fall into the darkness... You pushed me over the edge.. You turned me.. To what I am now, Rufus."

"Th... That was.."

"I had to do everything on my own... I was forced to fend myself form those men who wanted to use me as a puppet by myself. I barely kept myself from sinking deeper in the abyss of shadows by myself..." A menacing aura formed around the half beast as he grinned grimly. Blood from nowhere trickled down his nails, his jagged teeth and was splattered across his face and body. "I had to kill the Kaze'Aze in here by myself."

"Wha-?"

"Yes... You of all people figured it out, didn't you? I was the one who killed Kaze'Aze in here. I was never controlled by her at all. I have been plotting and doing everything on my own." He laughed maniacally as fear engulfed the brunette. "I became who I am now, all because of you, Rafas~"

"No.. I didn't mean to.. I thought that.. I.. Melt, I.." Frightened. Shocked. Desperate. Agitated. Despair. Mournful. Regretful. Painful. If all those words could be mashed up into one single feeling, that was the feeling Rufus felt. Because he thought, no, he knew, everything Melt had said to him, every single word he had lashed out, were all facts. They were all the truth.

"Rufus!" A white matter crashed on to the half beast, shoving him off the bounty hunter. It was Kaze'doggeh. "Rufus.. Don't get consumed into that depression. You have to be strong!"

"But I..." He moaned in disagreement. How can he be strong? What was left for him to be strong for? This was his punishment for everything. Everything from the very beginning. From when the darkness started to engulf Melt. From when he first met Melt. From when he came into existence to this world.

"So this is the person who calls himself my brother? How pathetic.." From the other side, a tall silverette stood. His arrogance manner of crossing his arms as he looked down to the brunette ticked him off. But it didn't change the reality of the situation. "Pheh, if you're like this, then how are we going to save Melt?"

"There's no way to save Melt.. Not anymore, since he's already embraced the darkness..." The negativity overflowed Rufus as he stared blankly into the space above him,

"Then do you want to give up just like that? Without giving effort to undo the mistakes done and do the right thing? Are you just going to stay on the ground there like some piece of crap waiting to be stepped on? Letting Kaze'doggeh's efforts go in vain? Let the Grand Chase's efforts go in vain? Let MY efforts go in vain?"

"Lass, shut up. You suck at motivational talks..." Rufus grunted as he spat out his tongue. The silverette was right though. There was no chance in Hell was he going to just give everything up. The bounty hunter forced himself up, despite the chains that bound him down. They break away when Lass reached out his hand, and he took it involuntarily, pulling himself up to stand.

Next to the thief, the white dog trotted and yipped happily. Rufus couldn't help but pat it in gratitude. The bounty hunter then faced Melt, still standing alone, opposite to him. "I'm aware of what I've done and what I should've done. And I know every mistakes I've made and I'll be fixing them right away. So be prepared when I come to save that ass of yours, you got that?"

Rufus couldn't help but smile when he saw the half beast nodded shyly, smiling as well.

* * *

><p>"That looks like he's dreaming of something perverted.." The immortal poked the cheek of the sleeping brunette. "Oh.. he's drooling as well.."<p>

"What? Wipe it off then! I don't want to be covered in his slime!"

"Oh.. Too late.. It's on your jacket.."

As the stygian swore out loud, Jin rolled his eyes. At least that was a sign that Rufus was alright. The brothers were still in deep slumber. Well, Lass woke up a whilst ago but he had fallen asleep in the next second due to exhaustion and made a hectic scene with Arme very, VERY worried of the boy. The bounty hunter gave them more to worry as initially, he was whimpering and shivering (But Dio of all people found it funny that agitating, which was a normal thing as everyone knew the demon was a sadist by nature).

"Jin~! Arme~! Dio~! Master Seighart~! Zero~!" A high pitched voice made the small party flinch. They saw a hyper active dancer, waving her hands with full passion. Behind her, a summoner floated lazily in midair, not caring of their incoming existence. Though, there was no denying that she gave a small glance towards them to make sure Amy wasn't just imagining it, or delusional or something worse.

As the small party got closer, they all could see the rest of the Grand Chase members mingling together closer than ever. Frankly speaking, it was quite a rare sight, to have everyone this close. Well, they were all close to each other but, only in the outside. Because at the end of the day, they all joined the Grand Chase for their own personal reasons.

"Oh, Jin found the others." Ryan had abruptly stopped his conversation with both Elesis and Ronan on what food to never pass on. Lire and Mari simultaneously lifted their heads from a book they both shared together and blinked in their presence before their book was closed and they stood to greet them.

Noticing that Grandark was leaning on the wall behind the rune caster blinking irritatedly to the wanderer, Zero shuffled himself towards the sword immediately, with a mutter of apology to it. Detecting such, Seighart decided that he should still have the last laugh after getting defeated by the demon at his own game. "Yo Grandark! You know that kid of yours cheated on you with my Soluna! Teach him a lesson so he won't come near her, will ya?"

"G-Gran...?" Zero suddenly flinched in fear when Grandark suddenly let out a deep aura of pure resentment towards the artificial demon. Seighart chuckled evilly the growing tension between the two.

"Why are you laughing? That isn't even near to evil.." Dio retorted, ceasing the immortal.

"What? You think you can do it better?"

"Of course. I'm Dio of the Burning Canyon. I live to do evil." The voilet demon slyly smirked as he turned to the dangerous pressure above the wanderer and his sword. "Oi Gran! He was so into using the Soluna, he even beat this idiot here without breaking a sweat. Now why do you think he's never beaten this idiot when he wielded you...? Could it be that he liked the Soluna more than you..?"

This time, more than just killing intent spewed out from the emerald sword as it glared daggers towards the poor tormented wanderer. "G-Gran! It's not.. It's not like that! Yes, I did defeat him but... W-wait, I just... Ahh..!" No sooner, Zero had silenced himself and dared not to even lift his head, staring down to his feet as everyone else could imagine the sword kept on ranting and lashing out to the demon with a fury they were fortunate not to have even heard. Though, Seighart sneered at the smirking stygian for dominating over the petty game as well as the fact that everyone now knew he was defeated by Zero when he wielded _his_ Soluna.

Ignoring that, the vermillion haired man looked at each and every person who had just arrived with full concentration, with the two sleeping boys catching most of his attention. "What's with those two? Something bad happen?"

"We're not entirely sure either." Jin shook his head in dismay as he explained to the group of the door and its weird ways and especially on the fact it has a 'mind of its own' of which the idea still tickled the immortal. "Well, Arme seems to be the only one conscious now to tell us what 'might' have happened behind that door."

The fighter's emphasizing on the word 'might' brought doubt to them all. Nevertheless, the mage was still given a chance to tell her part of the story.

"After we met Melt in that room and was sucked into that Gate, this world, I found myself in some random dungeon. Of course, I was with none of my weapons, so I tried my best to avoid everything. Which was utter failure..."

"Of course. We never did expected much from you..." The usual remark came from the usual Elesis, followed by Arme's usual tongue spitting to the knight.

" The next thing I knew was that I was in front of the white door. So I thought of using it as an escape route. But inside I saw.. Saw a monster.. He was in a pool of blood and carcass, laughing to the deceased and saying how pitiful she was getting stuck in his body.. Then he.. " Arme shuddered to thought of it all as her eyes involuntarily darkened. "He said Lass and Rufus were next..."

Waking up was like hell to the brunette. Actually, he refused to wake up and stop enjoying a peaceful dream after so many nightmares that tormented him again and again in the past few days. But the constant naggings that pestered him was terribly annoying that he yowled. Soon enough, he gave up. "Shut up! I'll wake up, I wake up...!"

"Finally.." The voice huffed in such a way the bounty hunter knew well. Over the past few days, he began to learn new things, most of which were related to the Grand Chase. And one of them was how a red headed knight sounded like when she was satisfied. "Right. Since everyone's up, we can finally move out!"

Rufus groaned, a finger scratching his head as he forced himself to sit up. One thing strange about this group he had forced into was that a woman was actually leading it. Not that he was against it, but it was just peculiar to him, seeing as it was just nature to have a male as a pack leader or such. Then again, Elesis Seighart wasn't exactly a woman to him. Actually, it was more peculiar that he saw the girl standing in her commanding pose in front of him.

"The hell..?" He scanned his surroundings. The same dark pillars and all that seemed like what he had already seen in the Gate of Darkness. And there were the members of the Grand Chase around; some have gone into a group discussion while the rest were keeping guard of their surroundings or just minding their own business. His thief of a brother included. But the strange thing to the bounty hunter was the fact he didn't seem to know how he found himself surrounded in a different scene. 'Must have been carried to some other place now...'

"Remember anything?" Lass muttered as he approached the brunette with a hand to support and pull him up. Arme was skipping behind the silverette. Seeing as to how déjà vu it seemed (if you give the mage girl a pair of dog ears and three fluffy tails), Rufus let out a soft snicker, one that went unnoticed to all.

"What we found in behind that white door, yes. But to how we ended up here, no."

"According to Jin, we were thrown out of the door and landed on him. After that, they assembled the whole Grand Chase together. So now, Elesis wants to move out and quickly find a way to get out of here so we can deal with..." Lass left his sentence unfinished, remembering how chaotic his brother was earlier on. The sapphire eyes of the thief stared straight to the bounty hunter's own ruby eyes, waiting for an approval or some sort of discouragement to continue.

"Meh.. I'm alright with it..." Rufus shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

"Well then... Elesis wants out of here to deal with Melt as quickly as possible." The thief spoke with firm to the bounty hunter, he who was still feeling a little stiff after a long nap. "Got any ideas? I don't really have any.."

"... That... No never mind.. It's too stupid..."

"What's too stupid?" Sardonyx hair and azure eyes approached them, after overhearing their conversation. Ronan stared at them with the slight agitation that he greatly tried to keep under control. He was as desperate as the rest of the group. "Any method to get out of this so called 'Gate of Darkness' is better than just to stand around and be lost."

The bounty hunter groaned in reluctance to tell them the sudden idea. Lass seemed to have picked up on what he was thinking about and groaned in irk as well.

"Well..."

"Urgh..."

...

...

...

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The immortal laughed without reserve after the thief ended his long and hard explanation on what to do. Everyone else were left there with mouths gaping wide but Zero who was still in the midst of his lecture from his nagging wife (more like husband since Gran's the dominating one here. Well, which ever seems suitable).

"What the Hell? You expect that to work?"

"I _did_ say it was going to be stupid..." The brunette reminded the rest of them, they who were scowling to the idea. "Well.. Specifically speaking, Lass was the stupid one here to say it out loud like he was going to recite it like some holy text... So he's the stupid one."

Lass immediately punched the bounty hunter by his gut. Again. So Rufus returned the favor. Again. He then looked curiously to the rest. "But why are you all so desperate to leave this place..? It's not like there's some side effect here or some time limit that's restricted us..." Once Rufus mentioned so, the rest stiffened up.

"What is it this time...?" Lass groaned as he leered to every single one of them.

"No.. Nothing. I just want to get out of here fast..!" Elesis replied, obviously trying so hard to stifle her nervousness. It pretty much made it clear that something suspicious was up. Ley couldn't help but let her face fall onto the palms of her hands, seeing how miserable the red knight was doing.

"... Amy..." The thief then shot a glare to the diva. She flinched immediately and let out a shaky response. A handful of small photographs, all of which held for only him to see, were brought out. "I never did get rid of these pictures when you were at that-"

"ALRIGHT! I'LL TELL YOU! DON'T YOU DARE CONTINUE THAT LINE!" She yowled immediately in fury, staring angrily to the smug thief. There were some whines of protest from around her, but the dancer knew her reputation and pride will be destroyed if those information the thief possessed went out to the world. "... Some monster's going to kill you if we stay here long enough! Now give me those!"

Amy swiped the confidential pictures only to notice these were normal parties where she was invited to sing as their special guest. "W.. What... Is... This...?"

"I was going to say that I haven't thrown out the pictures of you where you were at that party the Kanavan Queen hosted... Nothing that was... Too apprehensive.. To be used for something so cruel as blackmail." An childlike smile came from the silverette as he blinked so innocently.

"You... I'll make sure I'll kill you instead of that monster..." The dancer snarled with resentment towards the thief.

"Sorry, but that's job's taken by me." The bounty hunter on the side interrupted Amy's growls, but he wasn't that interested to continue on with the current topic. "But what do you mean that some monster's going to kill us? Is he that powerful that we might not even deal together?"

A moan that lacked enthusiasm lulled over them followed by an uncomfortable stillness. Arme then broke the silence. "Well... That monster behind that door.. After he laughed and killed someone... He said you two were next..."

".. Behind the door...?" Eyebrows raised, Lass stared at her with curiosity. "A monster was behind that door? You didn't see anyone else..?"

"N-no.. Who should I have been looking for..?" Astonishment in her expression, the mage look intently to the thief.

"He's talking about me.." The familiar dark tone made everyone turn immediately to its owner, he who was sitting comfortably just above them on a broken pillar, tails swiping left and right without a care and a grin that was so twisted that sent chills to the spines of the Grand Chase. "Hello there~"

"Melt!" Instantly they all wielded their weapons, ready to strike. But a sudden impulse forced them all to stand their grounds. The pale boy didn't seem like himself either. His malicious aura was more murky than it was before, and his built, it was less muscular that it was outside of the Gate. It was more childish and small built. His hair was a tad longer, shoulder length, and almost turquoise as his eyes were. As if he was a younger version of Melt. The only features that remained constant were his pointed, stripped ears and tail.

"... Let's see.. I've trapped the Grand Chase and killed that woman.. What else did I want to do...?" Immaturely, he pondered out loud. A shiver was sent down their bodies when they heard the boy had killed a woman. But there were even more discomfort was made to the brothers whom knew who he had killed. "Oh yes, time to deal with my two good friends, Lass and Rufus~"

"!" Melt launched himself straight down. It startled them all. No, not because he was going to strike them so suddenly. It was the fact that the deformation of his body began. His jagged teeth he used to snarl fiercely grew larger into razor-sharp fangs. His short prickly nails transformed into sharp long claws. That small body of his turned bulkier and enormous. Melt became a beast.

"Hell's Flames!" He shot down a cannon shell of black fire. Quickly reacting, all of the Chasers leaped back to evade from the fire. Upon contact with the ground, the flames blew up with a series of hard core explosions. Jet black smoke formed and clouded their vision.

"You kids alright?" An immortal yowled out to the rest of his companions. All he heard were rough coughs and grunts of irk from being unable to see.

"He's gone..." A grim tone from the summoner was heard from above. They all could see she had avoided the whole thing without any hardship, and with that ability of hers to float in the air, she scanned the whole impact area with ease. But her forbidding expression she had wasn't that pleasing to them all. "Melt's gone.. And so is the brothers..."

* * *

><p><strong>And so the story plot darkens. Dum dum duuuuuuuuu~m! *shot*<br>Haaaa... And I'm beginning to love this Seighart, Dio and Zero thing...**

**Seighart:Well, I don't! It was already troublesome enough to take care of one kid, and now I have to babysit another one?  
>Dio:Shut up! I ain't a kid! I'll have you know I'm older than you by a long shot!<br>Seighart:Heh, let's just say I've experience far more things to say that I'm older here  
>Zero:...<br>Seighart & Dio:What...?  
>Zero:... You two... Are fighting to see who's the oldest... Is it that fun to be labeled as an old man...?<br>Seighart & Dio face palms  
><strong>


	19. Chapter 19

"Nothing! Their presence, their scents, their auras just disappeared!" Ley complained as she crossed her arms in annoyance. Next to her was a giant vermilion wolf, tail down in disappointment. "I'm getting sick of this hide and seek game! This stress will be bad for my beauty..."

"Oh stop whining about your beauty. You're not even beautiful at all."

As Dio tried to dodge Mary whom had been summoned solely to bite his head off without mercy, Ley sighed gloomily. "Hnn... Where could they have gone...?"

"Where else? This is the Gate of Darkness that Melt summoned. Melt could have been the one who controlled everything that happens in here and made some sort of portal thing to fight them in a different place or something." The fighter slammed his fist on to the ground in fury. "For all I care, it might be that he's the one who might have controlled that stupid door!"

"Wait... That could be where the answers are.." Ronan muttered. "As much as I think it might be a waste time to find that the door might never open up again, it's better than just standing around here."

All who were in favor to the proposal nodded in agreement. By majority, the idea was going to be conducted. Jin was one of them whom were not so enthusiastic to see that door again as he sighed heavily. "Fine.. So long as I keep away from that bloody door..."

They all started to trek towards the direction that the fighter had already memorized by heart, even when every passageway, every hall seemed so common to the other. It didn't take that long before Elesis started to whine in annoyance, pretty much in irk after seeing the same thing over and over again and it took them more than enough precious time to keep her from speaking more when they encountered monsters of every size.

"Oh come on! These are the same weak monsters we see every day in Bermessiah!" The knight sighed. Nevertheless, she unleashed her sword and prepared herself to fight. "Well, it's better than walking around with nothing to do.."

"... Monsters of Bermessiah..." Mari muttered as she stared to the Knight rampaging around to free her boredom. "Those creatures are the only ones we have encountered in this so called 'Gate of Darkness'..."

"Making another discovery, Mari? Or stating the obvious" Lire joked next to the rune caster, she who was fixing her glasses properly whilst shutting her book.

"Both, Miss Lire." This comment made the elf's head tilt in confusion. "It is just a theory, but could it be, that the monsters in this would were to be the ones which were assaulted by subject Melt's 'Regina Tenebrae's Wrath'. Which just means that Regina Tenebrae's Wrath is but a way to transport them into this world."

The bowman hummed in thought. It didn't really cross her mind, but the link between the two was very conceivable. "Or maybe this world might be something more than the 'Gate of Darkness'..? Maybe it's not even a Gate of Darkness at all."

"... I as well, do not think this is a Gate of Darkness... And I would like to know more as this limited knowledge of this area is becoming quite irksome..." Mari commented, glancing around slowly. Nothing more came out of her cherry lips when Elesis cheered to her own one sided victory and they all were to move on.

* * *

><p>"Phantom Blade!" The silverette yowled as his nodachi let out a force of power that slashed the whole area before him ruthlessly and rapidly. Nevertheless, it was in vain as his opponent had clearly dodged it with ease, despite its huge anatomy. It snickered with glee to the striker's attempts to even land a single hit on him.<p>

"Soul Arbiter!" From the other side, the brunette firmly held his machine gun towards the beast and fired an unlimited amount of bullets. The beast merely huffed as he dashed about to evade the shells. "Damn it!"

It had been a one sided battle for too long where they had played hide and seek and it had made the blood of the two brothers boil in rage. How was such a huge creature so agile and swift? It made them completely lusting for its blood as blade slashed every single space and gun shot at every single corner.

The white beast lunged towards the striker and with its gigantic claws, it hacked deeply into the silverette's body. He choked on his own blood. Nevertheless, Lass took the chance to stab the beast with his kuneis. It let out a fierce yowl and threw the silverette towards his brother, ceasing the incoming bullets.

"Now, I can't gain your souls if you fight back, can I?" He snorted as his tails flicked in irk. Nevertheless, a malicious grin was on his face. "But I guess if there isn't any resistance, it wouldn't be much fun, would it?"

"Melt... Why the Hell do you want our souls for? Why don't you stop all this and return to us?"

"Why? Why else but to make the desired world?" The beast snickered as he darted to the striker and grabbed him by his head, slamming him down onto the bounty hunter hard. The beast kept on pinning the small head in his hand with a chuckle, forcing it down on to his brother's chest. "The souls of two blood related brothers, one with the blue flames of annihilation and the other with the demonic supremacy. Now wouldn't that make a beautiful combination to make a new to this blasted world we live in?"

Lifting up the silverette and slamming him down again to the brunette's gut below him whist putting an unbearable pressure on to his cranium got the both of them to do more than cough up blood. The beast then picked up the boy and crashed him down to the ground as he stomped violently on to the other.

A gunshot then made a cease to the beast's actions as the two quickly took the chance to escape his wrath. Rufus still kept had his eyeteeth pointed straight towards Melt's head as massive amounts of blood gushed out of the head, waiting for a response as he dreadfully tried to block out all the pain he was feeling. Not like the striker next to him, he who was badly damaged by the skull, the central nervous system of his whole body, and was staggering to even stand properly, let alone to wield his nodachi as it should be.

The viridian eyes merely looked down to its shooter. He shook his head until a piece of metal that was the bullet case flung out and landed on the floor and glared at the brunette. It neither astounded nor frightened the two that he wasn't even dead from the headshot yet. They were very familiar with the fact the beast had healing capabilities, especially after seeing that the small circular wound in his head had patched up quickly. The same viridian eyes became murkier as it glowed fiercely under the darkness.

"Melt... You really want to do this? Destroy us for our souls to make some sort of twisted new world?" The brunette asked, still keeping his stance as he shot a stare back straight into the beast's own emerald eyes. "You know, there's still a way to save you from this darkness! You don't need the bloody darkness, you know!"

"...I had finally killed the Kaze'Aze in me, therefore I have all the power I can wield with the darkness, satisfaction guaranteed... I can create a new era with it.. I can do whatever I want with it! So save your breath from trying to pull me back to that bloody light of yours!"

"So I assume that's your final answer..." When there was no further response from either parties, Rufus pulled out his soul arbiter again, aiming its barrel to the beast.

"Rufus..?" Lass questioned the bounty hunter's suspicious actions.

"I don't sense the dark powers in his words... Meaning he's not drunk in power nor is he joking around..." The ruby eyes narrowed with grim. "There's only one way to deal with this whole problem..."

Blinking with astonishment, the sapphire eyes narrowed as well. Understanding the whole situation, they knew what had to be done has to be done without further questions. The striker didn't like it though, the thought of it already hurts him inside. He knew it was going to hurt his half brother more, but the bounty hunter had made up his final decision. "I see..."

They charged towards the beast, he who welcomed any sort of futile attempts to destroy him. Both striker and bounty hunter had one thing kept in his mind though.

'I'm sorry, Melt...'

* * *

><p>"Nope. The door isn't even opening." Ryan kept turning the doorknob without mercy. When he heard Seighart was going to say something, the druid interrupted him immediately. "Yes, I've tried... Asking it..."<p>

Yes, whilst Lass and Rufus were missing along with Melt, the Grand Chase were having a battle with the ever so terribly annoying door which won't open. Even Arme, who was the one who successfully opened it before couldn't make it budge.

"So, what now genius?" Sarcastically, Jin asked the spell knight. Ronan as well didn't manage to open it as well. Irritated already, the man gave only a snarl to silence the fighter.

"We make another plan... Mari?" As usual, if Ronan couldn't do it, he'd ask Mari. Though to his surprise, the girl wasn't so interested in searching for the two brothers and their villain. She was staring into space. This action had also attracted the attention of the rest. "Mari...?"

"Hmm... Oh... I apologize... I thought I had heard something... Scream..."

"Gran hears it too..." Zero bluntly spoke with a slightly reluctant tone. Obviously to the rest, Zero was in the stage of relationship where Gran didn't really want to talk to the demon and Zero was trying his best to return to the silent bond they had together.

"Strange... I don't hear someone screaming at all- Mari! Where are you going?"

"To investigate. Master Zero. Please come with me. I would like it if Grandark were to assist me in locating the origin of that scream." Mari waited for the demon's reply, leaving the rest in astonishment. Zero on the other hand, flinched as if he was pained.

"... Gran says he's fine in helping you as you proved to be a more compatible person to associate with after you had found him instead of a certain demon who had instead..." A low groan of disappointment from the artificial demon, he who refused to continue the rest of the sentence. He reluctantly dragged himself to the flank of the rune caster. Again, the rest of the Chasers can imagine how much the emerald blade was still annoyed to the demon and making him feel more miserable than he already was. Though, there was not a sign of regret in the faces of the two prideful alpha males.

"... Guess I'm following Mari.. It seems interesting..." Lire pulled Arme with her as they skipped behind the two. Soon the rest had simultaneously trailed the rune caster.

* * *

><p>"..."<p>

"Oh.. I hear it now!" Amy perked up feeling more confident to the direction they were heading towards. It had been more than just a time consuming trek, and the constant walking had made a toll on the chasers in terms of their will power to continue to search for this 'scream', which strangely Mari and Grandark could only hear.

"That direction..." Mari stated, turning her head into a rather different hallway compared to the rest that they were going through. It was completely dark. As in, nothing was to be seen. But the rune caster overlooked such trivial matter, she was determined to know who was calling out so agonizingly. It would definitely give answers to the girl, especially when she wanted to know what everything in this world really is.

"Mari... This is a wall. Why are you staring at it?"

Confused, the blue haired maiden stared at the rest of the chasers. They didn't seem to see it as another passageway. It was like the same event as before, where only she and Grandark were the only one who heard the scream. Why was it like that?

"Grandark. Do you see a dim passageway here?"

"He says yes.. He can see it clearly... "

"Good. Then we walk on." Mari nodded with assurance as she strolled on, entering the pitch black hallway. Everyone else though, were just stunned to the fact they just saw a teen walking through walls, followed by Zero who obediently pushed on without objection by the forceful retort of the slave-driving sword. Interested, Lire poked the wall.

"It's.. It's not solid..." The elf perked in curiosity. She then hesitatingly entered with the rest.

"... Someone...! Before it's too late!" The screaming became louder once they were inside the gloomy corridor. It was clear to them that they had to pick up the pace, possibly that Lass and Rufus were deep in trouble. But the latter part of the sentence was what had encouraged them to rush faster towards the origin.

Then they stopped.

They saw a small light that shone over the person, bound down to the earth with heavy black chains, who was seeking help. He was white all over, with stripes of blue and red. Much like the antagonist that they were facing this whole time. But this person was different. He seemed older, with a muscular built.

He had not a shade of darkness around him.

"The other soul..." Mari commented as she approached him boldly. Upon hearing her, the Chasers recalled one of the rune caster's earlier theories before they had entered Kaze'Aze's castle. This soul was the other part of the Kaze'Aze's power's container. A flick made by one of his pointed ear after hearing footsteps and his face rose up.

"... You are... Mari... I expected you to come, but not this late..." He commented bluntly as he took a long glance of her from top to bottom. Then he saw the rest. "And the rest of the Grand Chase..."

"You have been expecting me?" Her eyebrows raised in interest.

"Yes.. I anticipated the fact you would be the one leading the whole party here. You were the only one with the craving to know what everything here means.. But please.. Will it be trouble if you set me free..? I rather not waste time and do idle chat here whilst my masters is in danger..."

"Masters..? That means..Melt? Is that you?" Arme exclaimed, a tint of relief in her voice. She was glad. The beast from earlier on wasn't Melt, who had become a dear friend to both Rufus and Lass.

But upon hearing that, the pointed ears fell down with his tails. "... I.. I'm sorry, Arme... I'm not Melt... But Melt he.. He must be stopped now! Or else my masters will feel more than just broken into pieces!"

"Now hold on here..." Elesis interrupted the half beast in front of her. "Can you explain..? I'm getting more confused than ever! Now who are you, who is you master, how do you know us, why is it that Mari was the one who was expected to be the leader here and where's the real Melt?"

An upsetting groan came from the Melt lookalike. "... I am a pet monster by nature but everyone had been calling be by the name Kaze'doggeh. And my master is Master Lass. Though, I did take care of Master Rufus, until he left... And I know you all when I tried to take over this petite body multiple times. If I remember, Ryan had witnessed my fights with Melt one night, no?"

As Ryan nodded to that evening, the hybrid continued to speak. "I expected her to be the leader here beause, as I said, she was the only one who desired to know what this world is really made of. With that yearning for the certainty of this place, it became a source of power where she was able to hear even me, who had been trapped in this forgotten room for so long. Although, Grandark was a different case as he is an overpowered sword."

"With that done, can these chains be undone? I can lead you all to where Melt and my masters are now so we can prevent an upsetting victory that will curse the brothers for the rest of their lives! I know where they would be."

Elesis tried to put two and two together whilst the others broke the chains that bind him there. Kaze'doggeh purred in glee after feeling that his wrists and ankles were free from those shackles as he rubbed on to the wounds that they made, visible red marks over his white skin. The half breed finally stood up right and stretched out his arms. It made some of the others feel a little surprised to how abnormally tall he was, compared to Melt who was about the same height as the thief.

"Your neck.." Ley noticed it the instant she scanned the half beast from head to toe. "I don't remember you were chained by your neck.. And there's a light bruise on it.."

"Hmm... Ah.. It was due to a collar I wore for years.." Kaze'doggeh then snorted. "But this is no time to reminisce of the beautiful days of the past. We have to move now!"

"Before that," Mari immediately tugged one of the tails of Kaze'doggeh, making him flinch in discomfort. "Tell us more of this world. It would make it easier for us to move about and work out a plan or some sort."

Again, he groaned in uneasiness. "Whilst we are moving, I will explain." In an instant, the half breed lifted Mari without warning and ran, flicking his tail as a sign to follow him to the rest. Though due to the fact he was chained down for so long, the half beast felt a form of discomfort whilst he ran. Despite that, he continued on. "This world. Is not called the Gate of Darkness. Melt had used Kaze'Aze's powers to create a dimensional rip and sent all of you in here."

"Dimensional rip? Then this world is..?" The knight gasped as she caught her breath whilst she ran. Was there a possibility that her father was in here? To her disappointment, the half beast kept the same continuous expression.

"I'm afraid it is not what you think, Elesis. Each dimensional rip is different and leads to different worlds. This world, has a specific name... It is the Sanctum of the Heart... Or a more specific name, it is Melt's inner world - where he, I and the personification of Kaze'Aze's powers resided in. But after my last encounter with Melt, I found out that he had already killed Kaze'Aze in here.."

"So the stupid dog's been the one toying with us all along?" Dio growled in anger, his rake had twitched in anger.

"In a sense, yes Dio. I do agree that Melt is stupid.. If he were to continue on with his plans..."

"And that is.."

"..."

* * *

><p>Once the bounty hunter knew the beast was hot on his trail he twisted his body with his Soul Arbiter at the ready. "Ravage!"<p>

Massive amounts of bullets were fired to his opponent, but all were in vain as the beast leaped in the air to avoid the assault. The bounty hunter had expected so as he let go of his machine gun, but he was still a mere second away from successfully unleashing his nether blade to defend himself from the pounce.

From behind, Lass jumped over the bounty hunter's shoulders and launched himself with his own claws, clashing steel with nails in midair. A small grunt came from the bounty hunter as instead of his nether blade, he took out his rupture and aimed quickly to the beast. "Rupture!"

He shot four consecutive blast that threw off the beast from its composure and to the ground. Lass still in midair changed into his scimitar without delay and dived down to stab the beast to the ground from its shoulder. It roared in angst, but with the strength he had, he knocked the assassin off him.

"Shit.." Lass rebounded when he was still airborne, landing on his feet next to Rufus. His daggers were out now. "How the hell are we going to end this..?"

"Since I've shot the brain and there wasn't any effect, then it's his heart we'll have to aim for. If it stops working, then everything else should shut down as well." Without sympathy the bounty hunter muttered with now his eyeteeth, gripped firmly into his hands.

"Neither of you can ever destroy me! Once I kill you both, I'll harness your powers.. Then I'll kill all your little Grand Chase friends one by one.. With that cute little mage girl first..." Melt taunted grimly as he cackled sinisterly. The thief, outraged, charged on without mercy. He struck the beast with a barrage of clumsy strikes. Once the beast was about to swipe him, the thief disappeared into thin air and appeared behind him, attacking him with his rapid combos. From the front, Rufus kept shooting unlimited amounts of bullets to the creature.

"Neither, yes, but if we were to strike you together, you won't stand a chance... Expunge!" The bounty hunter dashed forward and swiped his Nether Blade to the torso of the beast, then pulled out Rupture. With its prevailing discharges, he forced the larger creature up into the air and unleashes his Soul Arbiter to shoot him whilst he was still airborne. And with eyetooth he blasted the beast again, followed by a magic based explosion from his own self.

Melt was sent flying away, and this gave chance to Lass to make a clean finishing move to the beast. The click of his nodachi unsheathing, Lass forced out a huge amount of energy on to the steel blade and struck the beast with the frightening amount of concentrated power. "Blade Spirit!"

It knocked down the creature harshly to the earth. There wasn't a sign of consciousness from Melt either. But the rapid recovery of his body was clear to them that he was still alive and soon to be ready to strike them again. Lass and Rufus neared him, with both blade and gun ready to strike his heart.

But neither wanted to continue. True, he had betrayed them, he had embraced the darkness wholeheartedly. But Melt was still Melt. Deep down, they knew that the naive childlike half beast still resided in him. Lass swore. "... I just can't... He's a friend..."

Rufus grunted in agreement. Guilt had already engulfed his whole self. He would be keeping the world safe, yes, but it meant he had to murder his friend. His finger twitched hesitatingly on to the trigger. What was he supposed to do?

"You're weak... You've always been weak..." In an instant, Melt fired out a black flame to the two of them. In reaction, they dashed backwards. And the battle was back to square one.

But a flash of white had suddenly startled them and another had entered the battle. The new combatant wielded nothing but his own claws and fangs as it roared infuriated to the other.

Mystification was written all over the brothers' faces as they quickly realize that another, much older version of Melt was fighting the brutish Melt. They were fixed on to the intention to rip the throat of the other as the raging duel became much cruel and brutal, skin tearing off and blood spilling out more than enough.

From the opposing side, the familiar faces that were the Grand Chase ran towards them, calling out their names in relief.

"Lass! Rufus! You guys haven't killed Melt yet?" Rushing over, Arme yelped, bracing herself to any dismay. The two shook their heads warily, still troubled to tying to understand the current situation. She wheezed out in relief. "Melt... He.. He's not going really going to kill the both of you... "

"What?"

"Hell's Flames!" Another cannon fire of the black flames were shot, this time towards the mage with the intention to silence her. The shock sent her to paralyzed as she was too frightened to move an inch. Quickly, Lass leaped in to take in the full impact.

"Guuuh..." Without warning at all, a tall white figure had already ceased the motion of the flames with his own bare hands. Those same hands then proceeded to flick the fire off its palms calmly. "Tch... They were hotter than I expected.. But I give you credit for trying anyways.. Now why don't we stop this game and why don't you come out of that darkness... They don't suit you, you know.."

The two were in a moment of silence but their constant hostile growling and snarling to each other until the taller of the two lunged forward to claw off the other's face. Melt foresaw his attempts and took a mere step back to dodge his claw attack. The beast then tried to bite down to the other, but he twisted himself around and sliced Melt by his underbelly.

Upon so, he then forced the beast down and shoved him ruthlessly to the ground without hesitation, locking the beast down in that position. There was a constant thrashing and scowling from the pinned down Melt, but after some time when he realized anything more was going to be in vain, he gave up on struggling free. But the beast was still keeping his guard up and continued to growled in infuriation.

Lass backed down to the mage behind. "Who's this guy..?"

"He's.. He's your pet!" Arme reclaimed her composure. "He's Kaze'doggeh!"

"K-Kaze'doggeh...?" Lass looked up to the half breed in disbelief. Though, he clearly remembered that the memory that flashed into them just hours ago, the dog had mentioned that he was but an AI who was connected to his own soul somewhere in this world, the thief did not expect he would be in the form of this.. This large, fairly built man. It was just terribly hard to take in the fact he was the same little dog he used to pat and cuddle so much? "The hell is happening?"

"What's happening, Master Lass, is that this idiot was going to do something that would make everyone regret that everything ever existed..."

"Hell no I'm not!" The beast howled in protest, "I was going to make the perfect world!"

"Perfect world, my foot..." Kaze'doggeh snorted as he drove down the beast's head to the ground again. "You were going to selfishly do everything on your own again... Like how you disobeyed me and abandoned me for that woman.." Melt was going to open his mouth to object again, but he then shut it, leering away from him. The older man sighed. "Come on Melt... Just tell them... Tell them the reality to all this shadow nonsense that you've been plotting out. This darkness that entwines the truth..."

Once Kaze'doggeh said so, immediately his final words from the piece of memory that the brothers both experienced earlier on repeated itself into their minds once more. '_The darkness entwines the truth. Seek for it, unveil it with the light that is your desire.'_

Rufus was the first to approach the half breed. So he had the so called light? Was this light his desire to know the truth? If that was so and Melt was the darkness, he knew everything. Then everything would be a breeze as a wave of relief washed all over his body, knowing he didn't have to face the most terrible ending he would ever go through as he patted the half breed gently like he would usually do whilst they were travelling together. "Melt... Tell me everything..."

"Please?" Lass knelt down and prodded the beast to speak. He let out a silent whine, still averting his eyes from everyone else. But the beating around the bush was something that the brunette didn't like so he forced the beast to turn around, to suddenly meet his emerald eyes with his own ruby eyes.

It took him off guard. It took everyone off guard after seeing the fact those eyes were welling up and full of tears. He sniffled lightly as another reluctant moan came from him. "I'm.. I'm so sorry..."

* * *

><p><strong>Alright... So this might be... o-o"<strong>

**The recent activities around me kind of motivated me to write this story faster than usual!. Actually, I've got the next *cough*last*cough* here, but I'll wait a few days or so to upload it. It's a pain to upload everything in one go -w-" And I really want to make it the best ending ever, so i'll really be working on improving it...**


	20. Chapter 20

He started wailing away, unable to suppress anymore of his sadness. Kaze'doggeh let go of the beast and started to gently caress him by his back, soothing the sobbing boy as he slowly turned back to the little Melt that they all knew well.

"I'm.. So sorry..." Melt whimpered in between his weeping. "All I wanted to do.. Was to help Lass and Rufus.. I didn't want to do any more trouble to the both of them.. I.. was going to force out the blue flames and the demon blood out of the two of your souls and then take them with me..."

"Take them with you? To where?"

"To the afterlife." Kaze'doggeh muttered bluntly. "He was going to use himself as a scapegoat, take away all the darkness he could grasp on and die."

"Die? I won't allow that whilst you're still under me!" The bounty hunter yowled angrily to the word. But seeing as the small half breed was cowering away, he tried to calm himself down.

"After I got the darkness from Kaze'Aze, she was going to destroy me and take over this body as well as the world. So I slew her.. Then I realize how dangerous this power I possessed was so I thought the best way to destroy it was to bring it with me to Hell along with the monsters I absorbed with Regina Tenebrae's Wrath..." He kept his head down, with his pointed ears down as well. "But then I knew.. If I die, I knew you would be angry at me.. And lonely too..." He stared at Rufus, then Lass. "When Kaze'doggeh told me you two were related.. I thought maybe I could use Lass as my replacement, so you wouldn't be so lonely when I'm gone..."

A quick recollection brought the bounty hunter back in the days they were still traveling together. The night Melt was sleep talking to himself about using his brother for something.

"Then I remember you would still be angry at me if I just left just like that... So I started to act like Kaze'Aze, being all evil and all, and made this plan where you two would meet up and gave you two enough time to bond as I left for Kaze'Aze's castle." The boy rubbed his red, wet nose. "After that I.. I.."

Kaze'doggeh sighed above him and pulled him closer. He knew at that point, he couldn't reveal anymore of the truth. He was already too depressed to speak more than he already had. "Melt forced everyone, forced the two of you, to see that he was completely evil and made only one possible ending.. To have the two of you end his life. All his evil acts was to make sure you two were going to never regret having to send him off to his death.."

"Have you really thought that way, Melt? Do you really want to die that much?" Rufus snarled at the boy, but there was not a trace of anger in his tone. "Did you really want to leave me behind so much?"

"No! I.." The boy protested as he glanced up, only to see a pair of solemn eyes, full of disappointment and angst. He became too speechless to utter more and let his head fall again.

The brunette let out a sigh. "You little idiot.. There's this thing called... Friends.." He choked on the later words, seeing as he wasn't so used to applying the term. "And it means we always have each other's back no matter what... So don't just do things alone..." He then groaned in irk. "Damn, I'm getting too soft..."

Melt pulled himself away from Kaze'doggeh and let himself lean on to the bounty hunter. As he started sobbing again, he wailed out. "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry, Rufus.. I won't do it all again... I promise to tell you everything.. And to not do everything alone..." He continued to cry again, this time harder and louder as each and everyone around him gave a comforting smile of reassurance.

* * *

><p>The gate slowly closed as all the Grand Chase members stepped out of the portal. Outside, they saw a samurai that stood there, leaning laidback to the pillar behind.<p>

"Gaikoz..."

"Hm.." Upon the call of his name, the samurai did nothing but to stare to them all. "I kept the other monsters from interfering your business. I presume everything went according to Kaze'doggeh's plan..?"

"What..?"

"Gaikoz had been aiding me the whole time.." Kaze'doggeh gave a short wave to the man as he nodded curtly. "If the portal to Sanctum of the Heart were to be left alone, monsters on the outside as well as the other generals of Kaze'Aze seeking for revenge, even when they are ghosts, may enter and disrupt the whole thing.."

".. Then my work here is done.."

"Where are you going, Gaikoz?" Elesis yowled to the samurai in anger. "We still haven't finished our match! And as a Seighart, I will make sure I end it!"

The man did nothing but give a sly smirk. "Some other time. Right now, I'd like to see what had become of my castle and maybe finally find a peaceful lifetime..." He then disappeared with a cloud of smoke.

"... That was just scary.." Ryan uttered as he turned to the tall half breed. "How did he become the good guy?

"Kaze'Aze had always been a sneaky liar, and with each lie she makes, she brings destruction. But the truth had always been a powerful weapon.. Gaikoz may as well live an honest life from now on..." The half breed them turned towards the portal. "But now, it's time for us to part and for Melt to wake up.."

"W-wait! Kaze'doggeh.." Quickly, he searched his pockets and Rufus took out an onld rugged piece of belt. Hanging on it was as mall tag, smudged and worn off of its details and all. "This is.. Yours..."

The half breed gave it a good sniff and shook his head. "Keep it... I can't wear anything in this world anyways... I'm but a useless spirit now, that shares a body with Melt."

"Idiot! Don't call yourself useless.." Lass retorted harshly to the older man, but he had a gentle smile. "You've been very helpful from the very beginning..."

Kaze'doggeh did nothing but blinked in gratitude to his master as he turned away into the portal, giving a light wave towards them as he disappeared into the darkness. The gate then shut itself close an dispersed into thin air, leaving a white body to just flop weakly down to the cobbled floor with a pained groan.

"Melt...?" The bounty hunter questioned as he rushed over to the half breed. "You okay..?"

The younger one grunted as he pulled himself up, meeting the ruby eyes of his friend. "Rufus... This darkness inside of me.. You're not angry..?"

"It's not worth it if you're not here, Melt.." The brunette ruffled his sky blue hair. "Besides, that's like saying you hating me cause I'm half demon.. What we have doesn't make us who we are.. It's what we do.."

"And what you did was just the wrong things for the right purposes.." Lass commented after. "Though, the past is the past. We'll just have to learn from them and avoid making the same mistakes, okay.."

Melt nodded as he let out a shy grin. Simultaneously, an earth trembling growl came from his white stomach, making him blush furiously. "eheheh... I haven't eaten in days..."

"Well.. Let's go home."

* * *

><p>The calendar that sat on the bedside table was rarely used, but there were still red circles on some dates to mark important events that he should never forget. And on that day, there was a red circle. Under it, was a small handwriting that said one simple word.<p>

'Recruitment'

Exactly one month ago, the Grand Chase had cleared up the misunderstandings that Melt had made and brought back peace into Aernas. But after all that, their mission hadn't exactly ended. Their initial goal was to meet and possibly recruit Rufus the bounty hunter into the Grand Chase. Though, the bounty hunter had other plans.

"I never said I'd join you guys after all this was over." He retorted in irk. "I only tagged along with you guys as you all prove to be useful to some extent in clearing this whole mess."

"And I'm saying that you're _are_ going to join the Grand Chase!" Elesis rebelled against the brunette, her sword at the ready to forcefully bring his ass back to Serdin Castle. "And I'm not having no as an answer!"

"Hell, you're annoying..." The brunette groaned with anger. "This is why I liked being left alone in the first place..."

"So.. I was wrong to try and bring Lass and Rufus together..?" Behind the bounty hunter, Melt whimpered in disappointment, his emerald eyes were starting to well up again. Rufus groaned in annoyance.

"Fine... I'll think about it... Give me a month.."

And since then, the Grand Chase parted ways with Rufus and Melt, both went to who knows where. Now the thief glanced to the calendar briefly before he slipped into his shirt.

'Rufus Wild. Half human, half demon. My half brother. And soon to be the newest Grand Chase member...' The thief blinked gently as he proceeded to buckling his belt. 'And then Melt. Half human, half monster. With Kaze'doggeh residing him. Another new Grand Chase member..'

A gunshot distorted the peace he was in. The silverette looked out from his bedroom window, seeing what was happening on the castle grounds below. He saw a familiar face and he was already in a free for all battle with a knight, a fighter, a gladiator, a stygian and a wanderer.

"The hell's wrong with you all?" Rufus yowled in astonishment as he dashed away from the knight's signature skill. Then he found the fighter with a punch ready to land at the bounty hunter. Quickly, he took a sharp turn so they both would collide with each other.

"Black Space!" The stygian roared out once the bounty hunter was in range. The bounty hunter foresaw this and twisted his body around, dashing away from the black and violet force. From above, Lass noticed how abnormally fast the bounty hunter's dashes were. But he shrugged it off, it must be due to the fact he had to run around quite a lot to hunt down his targets.

"You can say Black Space all you want.." He taunted to the stygian, clearly ticking him off . The stygian charged forth with his rake hand ready to scrape his face off. Rufus lead him towards the spar that the wanderer and gladiator were having and shot the sky above them all, forming a murky cloud. "Make it rain!"

Bullets showered over them without mercy. When it cleared away, all four were just glaring at each other. "You think that can work on us, kid? We're all tanker types against a power-speed hybrid type like you. You're going to need more that some bullets of rain to kill us off."

"On the contrary, Seighart," The brunette spoke back to the gladiator, calling him without an honorific, which actually made him angry. "Tankers like you are pathetically slow and weak, therefore I can take my time torturing you all."

When he spat out his tongue, Seighart dashed towards the brunette with full intent to kill him. Skillfully, Rufus jumped and shot in midair, his gunshot used to keep him longer in the air as the gladiator crashed to the stygian. After a harsh battle of words, the gladiator and the stygian went into their usual one-on-one death match, ignoring everyone around them and destroying the castle grounds themselves.

"Cease this all at once!" Knightmaster bellowed at the top of her lungs. When everyone but the same two large powers stopped brawling about, she pinched the brigde of her nose. "Zephyrum, will you stop this-... No wait, you're not going to even get involved in this after that mess when you instead joined the fight.. Where's Olette? She's far better at stopping their useless fights.."

"I am here..." Mari rose her hand from a shady area. She had been peacefully reading a book whilst everthing was occurring. The rune caster then summoned out a large mechanism and launched it into the air. "Eraser!"

Once it shot a light blue beam on the earth and made a direct hit to the two of the men, they immediately ended everything and scowled in annoyance after getting burned heartlessly by the blue haired teen's laser. "Damn it! I was so close to beating the hell out of that kid!"

"You were nowhere near you old fart!"

"Seighart! Burning Canyon!" Knightmaster yowled their names to prevent any further violence and they obediently silenced themselves, but they continued to keep a glare of pure hatred towards the other. At that moment, Lass thought it would be a good idea to show himself present before the Knightmaster, seeing as the rest of the Grand Chase members were already on the castle grounds. He climbed on the window still and leaped into the air.

With his skills as a ninja, he landed safely on his feet, just in time to hear what the woman had to say to them. He also took in the brunette was standing next to her. It was a good sign, but taking another brief glance he noticed the white hybrid wasn't in front with them, as he stayed in the side lines.

"It seems the month is up and Rufus had kept his promise to give a reply to us concerning our invitation for him to join the Grand Chase."

"And obviously, I'm in..." The bounty hunter bluntly continued, not caring whether he was rudely interrupting the higher authority there. "It seems being with you all proved to be quite useful in one way or another..."

"So he's in it for his own benefits." Dio grunted.

"Like a certain weakling here..." Ley rolled her eyes, remind the demon he had the same reason to join the Grand Chase. The stygian snorted.

"But unfortunately, Melt won't be joining the Grand Chase..." Knightmaster continued straight away, avoiding another useless conflict between the two demons, and possibly Seighart as well.

"What? Why?" From behind the crowd, Lass exclaimed in surprise. He expected the hybrid would join them as well, after the whole experience they all went through.

"Because I'm going to find my own truth.." Melt smiled solemnly. It astounded the thief and everyone else (but Rufus), to how mature the hybrid had become over the past month. "In the past month, we.. Rufus, Kaze'doggeh and I.. Discovered something dire.."

Even without emphasizing it, all eyes widen to the word 'dire'. Some of the Grand Chase had even unconsciously leaned closer to the white beast. His emerald eyes met them all, one by one and blinked solemnly to everyone's attention. "I.. Don't have much time left..."

"What do you mean by that?" - Arme gasped in horror.

"... Rufus brought me to the town that.. The former Melt, came from and we found out that the healing magic I've been having all this time was actually a curse, acting as an immune system that uses up my life force to regenerate my body every time it gains physical damage. And with what harm I've done and what I've force everyone to do.. I've used up an alarming amount of life force. And my remaining living time is approximately 3-4 years... And it'll decrease more if I were to be on the field and fighting."

A mourning silence floated over them all. Why? After everything they went through, why was there still something dreadful that had to just occur to them all? Though, it was only Melt who was dying, in reality, everyone was severed badly deep inside just knowing a dear friend of theirs was going to pass away.

"But," An optimistic tone lingered in his voice as he desperately lifted their spirits. "Because of this, I'm going to find my own truth. I'm going to find everything out of my former self, be it history, family, favorites and pet peeves. Because one way or another it might lead me to a way to break free from this curse and finally live the way I should be living, the way I want to live." Melt gave a reassuring smile to them all. "So that's why I can't join the Grand Chase."

"Owh..." Was the reply Lass had made. He was clearly disappointed that Melt wasn't joining them again, and might never join them. And then there was the darkness. Who knows what might happen whilst Melt wasn't with them? He might actually get drunk in power and might just change his mind and go on to make his so called '_desired world'_ all over again. "But.. If you're with us, won't you stand a higher chance to finding out more of your past?"

_'And we can make sure you won't get into trouble again...'_

The hybrid shook his head. "One way or another, it might end up obstructing the Grand Chase's main goal. I rather not drag you all back as much as I have already, especially when I'm going to be a handicap in battle. Besides, don't you trust me in succeeding in this?"

"It's not that..." The thief muttered. "I'm also worried about that obsession of yours with the darkness inside of you as well.."

"In the past month, Rufus helped me see that the darkness had somehow become part of me as I have been accustomed to using it freely as my own power and assisted me in fully control it. Now I don't think I have any problems with getting rid of them for a long term."

"And as for the matter where I wanted to take away the blue flames you, Lass, posses, as well as the demon blood Rufus possesses." Melt added, understanding why the thief had mentioned such topic. "It seems that I won't be taking them away as the both of you need it for your own purposes." The thief was about to question what the hybrid meat by him needing the blue flames, but there was not a given chance for him to ask as Melt continued to speak. "And thus, all I need to do now is prioritize my goal to break this curse. To make sure there wouldn't be any mourning over my cold dead body in the near future. Hence I won't make my friends unhappy."

"So.. You're going on your own? Then what's with the 'I promise not to do things alone'?" Elesis inquired. Clearly she was one of them who really wanted Melt to stay with them as she had developed a liking to the half breed. Again, he shook his head.

"I remember. That's why Kaze'doggeh's with me in here..." Melt fisted his chest lightly. "He's going to help me as well. I mean, he's already helping me in maturing into a proper person.."

The half beast's reasoning made it hard to protest on to keep him from leaving them. And it seemed that Rufus had already given the boy his okays. "He isn't a kid.. He can take care of himself and he has all rights to find out his past after the Hell he went through..."

"Then... Only tonight. Stay with us as an honorary member of the Grand Chase. We'll be having a feast later anyways to welcome Rufus to the Chase." Lass requested to the half breed after giving up on insisted him to stay. By now, he knew the half breed's determination to fulfill his quest couldn't be changed no matter how much he pleaded. Melt made a light sniff and accepted the invitation.

"I'm delighted to stay."

* * *

><p>That night, the Serdin Castle was far more livelier than usual. Glasses were raised and a toast was made. Yowls and cries of joys and pleasure filled the room as everyone was enjoying themselves. They laughed together, mocked each other, followed by the usual mild chaos they were used to and practically had fun. Though the atmosphere made a certain brunette feel a little unease as he slipped out with a bottle to drink.<p>

"I knew you'd come out here..." Leaning on the banister of the balcony, Rufus heard the familiar voice of the thief. He grunted in acknowledgment of the thief's presence as he continued to chug what was inside the bottle. He presumed it was some expensive wine, seeing how much quality the texture was and how fine it tasted.

"Of course you did... I said so, right? We _are_ brothers.."

"_Hal f _brothers.." Lass added. "I don't drink and I'm not so vulgar..."

"Whatever.." Rufus continued to drink. "What do you want...?"

"I presume that you told Melt that I will still need to use the blue flames?"

"Hah, the boy's actually a genius!" The bounty hunter teased, snickering as the thief groaned at him in irritation. "Well yeah... Call it part of my plan to keep Melt from thinking of another plot to somehow involve killing himself and.."

"And...?"

"And to have a reason to be in the Grand Chase. I _am_ still hunting down the blue flames. And you _still_ have them. Getting into the Grand Chase means I can figure out how to kill you off and take those flames as long as I want without losing track of them. And then there's still that bounty I need to finish up that requires me to stay in the Grand Chase. So, it's like killing two birds with one stone." He laughed happily to his plan as he took another gulp of the bottle. "Damn! This booze is great!"

Seeing as the bounty hunter may have become drunk, Lass backed away. He thought after all that happened, Rufus might forget about that whole blue flames thing. Heck, he himself had forgotten all about it. "So.. You joined only to try and.. Kill me..?"

"What else, _dear brother_~" A sinister glow in his ruby eyes meant he was dead serious, even when his face was red due to drinking. the bounty hunter then turned away. "But like I said.. I can take as _long_ as I want.." The thief grunted as he flanked the bounty hunter and swiped the bottle of wine off his hands. "OI! I thought you don't drink!"

"Occasionally, I do.. And this is a good occasion." Lass gulped down the rest of the liquid. Once he was done, he shoved it to the bounty hunter. Seeing as it was empty, Rufus glared at the thief.

"I feel like killing you now..."

"Be my guest then.. I doubt you'll succeed..."

"Oh yeah? Let's have a duel right here, right now!" In that instant, Rufus shot the thief. As ready as ever, Lass blocked the incoming bullets with daggers. The bounty hunter then charged head on with his nether blade to slice the thief by his waist.

* * *

><p>"That ain't fair... They're having a private party outside..." Melt joked as he watched the two brothers battle it out. Arme, beside him continued to nibble on her cake.<p>

"I guess we'll be seeing more of that in the near future..." The mage smiled after taking another spoonful of the cream colored sponge cake. "So Melt.. What did you want to tell me again?"

"... Just to take care of them.." The hybrid chuckled as he saw the alcohol had finally kicked in for the both of the brothers as they started to trade blows and punches with each other. "I knew Kaze'doggeh had favored you for a reason, so I thought maybe you might be the right person to tell this to.."

"H-huh? What?" A light blush appeared on her face.

"Well, I know you're a good friend to Lass, so maybe that's it..."

"O-oh.. Yeah.." An awkward laugh came out of the mage as she looked away. "Well, I make sure they'll be fin-"

CRASH! The glass window crashed with a brunette falling on to the tiled floor. A silverette then pounced into the room. "Ha! I can punch you harder!"

"Yeah right! That didn't feel like a thing!" Rufus yowled back as he quickly picked himself up and made a blow on Lass by his head, forcing the thief to the fall to the floor face first. He laughed mightily but was soon halted when the thief dragged him down as well.

"... I think I might be able to make sure they'll be fine..." Arme spoke, after seeing the two drunks beat each other until they had fallen asleep on the spot.

"... Heh, you will.." Melt reassured her as he lightly chuckled.

* * *

><p>When morning came, a dreadful hangover had down casted upon a bruise covered silverette and brunette. But despite that, they still managed to get themselves at the gate of the outer walls of Serdin. In front of them, was a sky blue haired boy, still smirking at their outrageous appearance.<p>

"Stop it or I'll start shooting your tail off.." Rufus growled in irk after seeing that the rest of the Serdin population had a full glimpse of him not at his best. It'll leave an annoying stain to his reputation in the area, especially when he was a bounty hunter and needed a great first impression to get the best bounties offered to him.

"Well.. Take care of yourself, Melt.." Lass patted Melt upon his unkempt hair like he usually did. He took his time and savored each and every feel of the boy. There was a low chance he might never meet Melt ever again. Nevertheless, he tried to think as optimistic as possible, reminding himself that Melt would definitely find a way to break through this dilemma.

"I will." Melt purred to the touch, making sure he would remember how the thief stroked his head forever. "And I promise to return too." A soft moan of protest involuntarily seeped out of his mouth when Lass reluctantly withdrew his hand.

"Alive." Rufus grunted. "You'll return alive. Not dead." The half breed gave the bounty hunter a firm nod to the brunette. Rufus then gave in to the temptation to give the boy his own way of petting. In comparison, Melt could tell that Rufus' was more rough and brief that Lass', but he could see that the brunette was blushing ever so slightly in doing so, particularly when they were all out in the open.

"I'll make sure of that. And Kaze'doggeh as well, promised he'll definitely return with me still breathing." A childish grin formed as he turned away to the path that lied in front of him. He knew it was going to be harsh, but he also knew he won't be facing it alone. Besides that, he was very motivated as he knew that his comrades will be waiting for him to return. Melt gave the two a short wave. "Goodbye.. No.. See you later, Lass~!"

"See you, as well!" The thief returned the same gesture.

Melt then paused for a brief moment before he waved again. "See you later, Rafas~!"

"!-" The brunette flinched as a small blush appeared on his face to the most later part of the name. He then shyly waved back, calling out his goodbyes to the hybrid whilst Lass stared at him, eyebrows raised in astonishment.

"So.. Rafas..."

"Eww. That's just sickening... Don't call me that with that disgusting voice of yours.." Rufus immediately rebutted as he turned away to return to the Serdin Castle. Annoyed that Lass couldn't infuriate the half demon further than he could, he reluctantly flanked his brother and walked home. He then heard a low mutter from the bounty hunter, but loud enough for only his ears to hear. Lass gently blinked to them as those words imprint themselves deeply into his mind.

"The darkness entwines the truth.. Seek for it and unveil it with the light that is your desire..."

* * *

><p><strong>D: D: D: D: D: IM NOT HAPPY WITH THE ENDING, I DON'T KNOW WHY? x-x<br>****It seems so plain.. I know... Every time I rewrite it it ends up the same...  
><strong>**So I gave up and started Loving it XDDDDD  
><strong>**So finally, the Darkness entwines the Truth has finally ended, totaling up to 64,501 words! Yesh! Now, I'm gonna... uh... do something...**

**I am seriously going to miss writing this, as well as the people who have supported me along the way... THANKAYOUVERYVERYMUCH! ! XD**

***Shot for using spamming capital letters***

**Oh, from this point on, anyone who would like to use Melt in their stories related to OCs, feel free to do so. I'll er... write down his skills and all that stuff somewhere soon... or just PM me.. yeah that's easier...**


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